An Unbearable Sight
by Ponderess
Summary: When we love we tend to disregard ourselves in favour of caring for someone else. ― Neither Annie nor Eren had expected to take the fall that is loving a person, but in the damp walls of Annie's prison cell they find that there might be something worth more than anything they ever fought for.
1. Prologue: Eyes filled with Hurt

_**Summary:**__ "__When we love we tend to disregard ourselves in favour of caring for someone else."_ ― Neither Annie nor Eren had expected to take the fall that is loving a person, but in the damp walls of Annie's prison cell they find that there might be something worth more than anything they ever fought for.  


_**Spoiler Warning:**__ Though I'm ignoring the canon plot from chapter 34 onwards, I'm including the factor revealed in chapter 42, so if you haven't read that you're in for spoilers._

_**Notes:**__ This story unexpectedly grew from a one-shot. The prologue and the first 5 chapters are revised versions of the original first few chapters and partly went through some sever editing before being re-uploaded. (I combined some of the chapters for various reasons.)  
Random updates on my writing process can be found here: _leviplease,tumblr,com/tagged/aus-writing_ (Replace the commas with dots for the link to work.)_

_**Recommendation:**__ If you haven't read them already, you should definitely have a look at chapters 17, 31-33 and the first few pages of chapter 34 of the manga. Those are the basis of this story and they have been altered in the anime adaption. So honestly, read them and pay attention to how Annie and Eren interact and I think it will add to your reading experience with this story._

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** An Unbearable Sight **

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**Prologue: Eyes filled with Hurt**

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She was defeated. With its arms torn off, the huge body she possessed was slumped to the ground. Unable to move by the weight of another titan pressing it down, she could only hold out inside it as countless people from the Scouting Legion were swarming towards her. There was no point in even trying to push her titan form any further – it was only useless flesh now. It was the last shelter she had from this cruel world – and they were cutting into it, tearing through the chunks of flesh on her neck in which her real body was preserved.

Annie didn't know what was worse: that she had failed in fulfilling her mission to take Eren, or that she had failed to escape over the wall. The memory of Mikasa cutting off her fingers on both hands so she could no longer cling to the wall shot through her mind again. And the thought of those merciless eyes when her former comrade from the 104th training squad had told her to fall still made the hair on the back of her neck stand on edge.

They'd never gotten along very well in their training days, but now Annie was sure that Mikasa downright resented her. The dark haired girl being weirdly overprotective of Eren – the very person Annie had attempted to kidnap – it wasn't really surprising. But compared to her affectionate and caring behaviour towards her childhood friend, the cruelty she could show towards others was astounding. Annie seriously wished to never have to face that cold-hearted girl again.

Fresh air approached her as they tore open the muscle of her titan form to retrieve her real body. She was so numb and exhausted from fighting and running in that huge body that she was still tied up to. And even if she could've moved, what would've been the point of fighting back when their numbers were so high and she was so weak?

Still, she was scared of facing them. The blood of their comrades was on her hands – she was well aware of that – why should they have any mercy for her. She had squashed their friends like insects, why should they do any less to her.

Huge fingers gripped her, ripping her out of the last bit of shelter she had left. Eren had her in his grasp and she found it hard to breathe even though her face was now freed from the titan flesh and her lungs had full access to air again. Half of her wanted to close her eyes, so she wouldn't have to see what was coming for her, but the darkness behind her eyes scared her now more than ever.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she desperately tried to think of a way out, the words of her father from long ago echoing in her ears. He had asked her to treat the whole world as her enemy and told her that he'd be always on her side. And he had made her promise to come back to him one day, and she really had intended to. She had wanted to survive, not only for her own sake, but also for her father's sake. And so far she had managed to. This time however she had run out of options.

As soon as Mikasa had sent her falling, Annie had known she had lost. Unlike that time in the forest of giant trees, there were no titans anywhere that she could call to devour her titan body, while she made her escape in the turmoil of it. And where would she run off to anyway? They knew her face now.

Her feet hit the ground as Eren put her down. Only now did she notice how shaky and weak her legs were. She would surely fall to her knees, if it wasn't for the huge hand of Eren's titan body which refused to let her go. Somehow she was glad about the warmth of his steaming fingers that engulfed her. But life soon left those limbs and she knew that he as well was releasing control of his titan body, leaving the massive limbs to slowly dissolve from their heat.

Members of the Scouting Legion approached her, tearing off the motionless titan fingers that enclosed her body and seizing her. She struggled, however with little effect – her body was currently far too weak for her to put much effort into resisting.

The hands grabbing her restrained her. They were way too close, she just wanted to shake them off, but it was no good. Her body was so tired she could barely hold herself upright on her own anyway. So she gave in to the enemy closing in on her and tried not to think too much about what was awaiting her in their custody.

The tears had dried up. All that was left for her was an indistinct emptiness and her heavy breathing. Her skin was almost numb to the touch of the scouts confining her. Their voices were far off and barely reached her ears as her gaze aimlessly wandered past them.

And then she saw him. Lying in Armin's arms, he seemed as exhausted as she felt after manoeuvring the huge body dissolving nearby. But still he was looking at her with these wide amber eyes of his – just the way he had looked at her right before she had transformed into her titan form. Why was he looking at her like that? What was it with this guy and his big earnest eyes? If only he would stop.

Eren struggled to get up, barely breaking eye contact with her. Armin seemed to argue with him to stay put, but the brown-haired boy did not listen. Keeping his eyes fixed on his target, he started to move towards her.

Annie wanted to turn away. She wanted to avoid directly facing him a second time even more than she wanted to avoid his gaze. But she could not even avert her eyes from his green irises. Somehow they had trapped her gaze and she could only stare at him with unease as he approached slowly, getting steadier and steadier on his own feet again.

"Why?" he exclaimed as he was yet a few steps away from her. Someone called his name – maybe Mikasa – but he ignored whoever it was, as his hands pushed passed Annie's many guards and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Why would you do that?" he repeated – louder this time – and shook her.

Even if she wanted to, Annie could not answer. The scene left her dumbstruck and horrified at once. His voice sounded so desperate, like she had never heard it before and- where those tears in his eyes? Why was he crying now? Why was he crying while saying her name?

She was barely aware that her mouth was gaping open. It hardly mattered though given the fact that she struggled to comprehend what was happening before her eyes right now.

Was he crying because of her and what she had done, or was he crying _for_ her? But that was ridiculous. Why would he be crying for her? Why would he – the boy that had exclaimed so many times without hesitation that he would kill all the titans – cry for _her_ – the girl who had come for him transformed into a titan and had killed several of his comrades in her attempt to capture him. To him surely her actions must seem more treasonous than to anyone else here.

And yet she could not detect any resent in his earnest eyes, only the desperate sadness and the question how things could have come to this. Eren sure was special. Even the goodhearted Armin now looked at her like she was a traitor – well, to them she was just that after all – but not Eren. What an idiot. Or maybe fool was closer to it.

His honest idiocy had actually started to fascinate her a while back. It had been clear to Annie that their diverse mind-sets made it feel like they were living in two worlds that were completely different from each other. And in some way she had wanted to test him with his ideas of how things worked and show him a bit of her world. That had been very likely one of the main reasons she had offered to teach him some of her hand-to-hand combat skills.

Now she wondered if she just should've stayed away from him with that naïve attitude towards life he displayed despite the things he had apparently gone through. Maybe then it wouldn't pain her so much to face him right now, to see him cry _because of her_. Maybe then it wouldn't freeze her to the spot. Yes, maybe, just maybe.

Scouts were still all around, some of them standing close by trying to break them apart. But Eren refused to let go of her shoulders. Did he really await an answer of her? What was he expecting to hear? That it was all a misunderstanding? No, it surely wasn't, there was no denying the facts.

He seemed to realise. His fingers loosened up and slid from her shoulders as he slowly gave in to the people ushering him away. It felt like a final goodbye, though none of them was able to bid the other farewell. Eren just silently turned from her and for some reason it saddened Annie more than anything she could've ever imagined.

"Eren- I'm sorry," she hadn't even known she was about to say these words, before they were out. He froze and looked back at her in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you what you want to hear," she specified. Yet actually she was sorry for everything. But most of all she was sorry that she wasn't able to stay with him and they could never try to be friends. So far she hadn't even known for herself, but now she felt it all so clearly.

Eren gulped visibly, yet he didn't say anything. Maybe he was grasping what she had left unsaid, but maybe he just didn't know what to make of her words. During their time together in the 104th training squad, she had had the impression that he often was a bit slow on the uptake. And then again, sometimes he had surprised her by comprehending more than she had expected of him.

He really was one of a kind.

The scouts holding her were growing impatient. Eren and Annie shared one last look before she was dragged away to her unavoidable fate. His gaze was hefted to her back until she was out of sight, oblivious to the tears that were welling up in her eyes again.

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	2. 01: Ask for Answers

_**Notes:**__ I edited and combined what originally were part 2 and 3._

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**Part I: Ties**

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**Chapter 1: Ask for Answers**

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He had asked for her again and again. Every day of the week for three coherent weeks he had mentioned her name at least once to try and figure out what was happening to her. Captain Levi, who was in charge of her interrogation on top of having Eren in his custody, was growing really impatient with him.

His replies went from an indifferent "Shouldn't you be training to control your titan powers with Hanji's squad or something?" over a threatening "Listen up, brat. You're fine as long as I hold responsibility for you, but if you keep on nagging I might change my mind. So keep your trap shut and already fucking stop asking me about that, will ya?" to an almost mocking "Gee, what is it with that girl? Do you want to do some titan mating with her, or why are you obsessing so much over her?"

Eren, who was still intimidated by the captain ever since their first meeting – not to mention having experienced an explicit taste of the man's hard kicks first-hand at one occasion –, swallowed down the anger these remarks caused in him. However he did not back down. In the nearly two months the teenager had spent with him, he had realised that Levi wasn't too bad after all. His superior had taught him at least one or two valuable life lessons so far and – despite his impassionate demeanour most of the time – he had a heart that sometimes even showed a little, if you paid attention.

However the captain's cold-heartedness towards his enemies was what worried Eren. After all, so far Annie had given the man enough reason to be considered his enemy. She had wiped out his whole squad for instance.

Since the incident Levi had kept a straight face – at least in the presence of the young man under his charge – but that meant hardly anything, since his impassive features seemed to be set in stone. Who knew, underneath the layer of indifference he displayed to the outside world maybe lay a vengeful man, a man that could not forget about his deceased squad members. And one thing was certain: his kicks could mess up your body pretty badly – Eren had felt that for himself. Who knew what else he was capable of doing to someone who had killed his comrades.

Seeking revenge or not, the double duties sure took their toll on the captain. He was unusually short-tempered and moody. During the days he had to keep an eye on the young teen – whose ability to transform into a titan still was considered a threat even though he had improved at using it – while his nights were cut short because he spent at least half of it with Annie, trying to get some information out of her.

Because Levi couldn't be in two places at the same time and had to get at least some sleep during the night, the female type titan was confined in the same old castle Eren had become accustomed to living in. Yet the young scout had no idea where exactly she was held – the dungeons were big and he only went there for sleeping as it had been ordered for security measures. And he knew that he would get hell if he tried to find out where his former team mate from training days was being kept.

So he stuck to asking about her, hoping that someday his superior would get tired of it and finally tell him how she was doing. But after no progress in three weeks his patience sure was wearing thin. He couldn't tell who might snap first: the captain or he himself.

Steadily resigning, Eren sighed one night over dinner after having an especially fruitless questioning session with Levi: the older man had decided to simply ignore him and just silently proceeded to eat his meal.

Resting the head with the brown hair on the table in frustration, he grumbled more to himself than to anyone: "You don't have to answer my questions, but at least let me see her once, Captain."

Levi took a sip from his cup of tea and leaned back in his seat.

"Fine," he eventually said, "you can have your titan date."

Eren's head shot up in surprise.

"Really?" he asked wide-eyed. He was far too excited about the prospect of actually seeing Annie to get offended by the captain's choice of words.

The dark-haired man just shrugged, eyeing an unspecific spot on the opposite wall. "If it makes you shut up."

The young scout swallowed. He wasn't sure if he could promise to never ask for Annie again once he got to see her, so he didn't.

"When?" he asked instead.

His superior seemed to consider it for a moment.

"As soon as you've finished your plate and I'm done with my tea we can go."

"What, seriously?" The boy lightened up even more.

"Yes," the captain replied. "But if you keep asking stupid questions and don't hurry, I might change my mind."

Eren didn't have to be told twice. He ate the last bit of his dinner in haste and soon after they were on the way to the dungeon. It almost seemed surreal to him as they climbed down the stairs together in the dim torchlight, like he wasn't sure whether he was dreaming or not.

Levi was giving him half an hour, any extension of the time limit and the captain had promised to drag him out by his brown hair. It was a rather generous offer, Eren thought – especially considering he'd been molesting his superior for three weeks without getting anything out of him. And now he got to see her, would be able to speak to her.

He couldn't deny that he was nervous about facing Annie once more. Not only had he been intimidated by her during their days in the 104th training squad, but their last encounter had left him truly unsettled. Even three weeks later he yet hadn't been able to fully process what had happened that day in the eastern wall town of Wall Sina.

He still couldn't quite comprehend that Annie had attempted to kidnap him and ruthlessly killed several people in the process. But what troubled him more than having been forced to fight her was her behaviour after being captured.

Eren had confronted her even though he had known deep down inside that it was too late for reasoning. And at first she had reacted as expected: not giving any kind of explanation for what she had done, leaving him with his unanswered questions. But then, right before being taken away, she had _apologised_. And there had been this sadness in her eyes that had made him nearly lose the ground beneath his feet.

Though Annie had specified that she was sorry for not being able to give him the answers he wanted, he couldn't shake the thought that there had been more to her apology. She was bad at lying after all as far as he was concerned. He may not have been able to read her like an open book, but when she spoke he could tell the truth from a lie.

So night after night he had been mulling over what she really had wanted to say back then, but just couldn't. He wasn't necessarily expecting an explanation this time, for all he knew she might not even talk to him – why would she want to? But he at least had to give talking to her a try.

By the time he and the captain reached the door to her cell Eren's heart was racing and he struggled to think straight. Every question he had wanted to ask her got jumbled up in his head or completely disappeared. His stomach wailed with unease.

Still he listened to Levi's last instructions, reminding him not to do anything stupid as best as he could. The boy then gave a formal salute, offering his heart to show how serious he was about this.

His superior acknowledged it with barely a nod and opened up the door that revealed a sparely lit cell. In the dim torchlight Eren could only make out Annie's shape on the bed at the opposite end of the room. She faced the wall and so far showed no reaction to hearing her cell door open.

Hesitantly the boy entered the cell. His heart was racing and his thoughts were rushing so fast through his head, he could barely follow up with what they were even about.

A few steps into the room and he heard the door fall shut behind him and being locked. He knew Levi would be waiting on the other side for him, making sure he didn't exceed his time limit. However he couldn't make out a sound from outside – the thick, heavy door was probably swallowing up most of it. That gave him a sense of privacy.

After taking a deep breath to calm himself down a little, he approached Annie further – however still staying about an arm's length away to be sure.

"Annie?" he carefully tried, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"It's me, Eren," he added, yet the blond girl remained motionless in the semi-darkness. Maybe she was sleeping. Or she didn't want to see him and just pretended to be asleep.

He listened out for her breathing. It didn't sound relaxed and regular, more like she was tense and trying to inhale as little as possible. So she was awake.

Instead of calling her out on it, he decided to just continue talking to her. After all he now knew that she could hear him, and maybe she would actually listen to what he was going to say. So there was a chance she might even react at some point. Though he wasn't sure what exactly he was going to say.

"I hope they've been treating you somewhat alright," Eren started rambling. "I know they can be pretty rough – especially to someone with this kind of" – he was searching for a way to put it – "ability that is considered a threat. I should know I went through the same after the Trost incident."

He paused. What even was he saying?

"No, not the same," he corrected. There had been people that had believed in him and had been willing to put their trust in him. Annie had no one who believed in her – no one in the right position to save her anyway.

Eren was startled by his own thoughts. His gaze got caught on a tile on the floor while he reconsidered. Did he want to _save_ Annie? Where had that word even come from? Three weeks ago he had been guilt ridden about the deaths of his comrades and now he thought about saving their killer?

But it was Annie after all. She had been his comrade, too.

A short, dry laugh escaped his throat at this revelation. He felt a sense of irony in his situation.

"Remember when I talked big about killing all the titans and now look at me," he shared his thoughts with the floor. "I guess things aren't quite as simple as I had thought back then…"

He focused on his breathing while trying to sort out some of the chaos inside his head. So many thoughts sprang at him from all directions he couldn't even finish most of them. They just got lost in the tumult of half-sentences, disappearing as quickly as they had come up.

"I'm just trying to understand," he concluded. "Annie, I just need to know _why_."

His eyes were fixed on her back again, willing her to speak. However she kept her silence and he grew tenser and tenser with every passing minute. He wasn't good at this. His patience had been tested more than enough over the past weeks and he clearly wasn't apt at interrogating someone. He wondered bitterly why they hadn't received any lessons on that as trainees.

"No real reason."

Annie's reply came out of the blue, but the few words she had uttered in her usual impassive tone enraged him. He tried his best not to let his temper get the better of him, but it was really hard.

"Don't fuck with me!" he pressed out through gritted teeth.

She still did not face him and that made his anger even worse.

"I just wanted to survive," she added just as casually.

"Survive?!" Eren shouted, no longer able to hold back. "Is trying to kidnap me what you call surviving? Was killing all those scouts necessary for your survival?! You came to attack us! Couldn't you have stayed with the Military Police save inside Wall Sina?!"

"What do you know about me?!"

Infuriated she turned around to face him with scary eyes, the chains tied to her wrists rattling heavily from her sudden movement.

"Well, what do _you_ know about me?!" he retorted.

"Nothing, but I don't go around acting like I know it all, do I?!"

Her voice was quieter than his, but also sharper.

Eren was taken aback by her accusation and the glint in her eyes that accompanied her words. He swallowed hard. Ashamed he looked at the floor again, escaping her stare. What did he know about her? He had made some assumptions during their time together, but what did he actually _know_?

He took a few breaths to calm himself and when he faced her again, she was back to her normal indifferent self. Looking at her it seemed like nothing had even happened.

"Tell me then," he prompted.

"Huh?"

Her face was off for only a second, so he wasn't even sure, if the surprise in her eyes had actually been there. But it seemed like she hadn't expected him to say something like that and couldn't quite follow his words.

He took a breath, deciding to elaborate.

"I know you became a soldier trainee, aiming to join the Military Police," he began stating the facts he had gathered about her over the years. "I know that you're very skilled and ranked as fourth among the top trainees. You like to keep to yourself and don't talk much. But when you get to display the unique hand-to-hand combat skills you learned from your father you liven up. And when you smile – which you rarely do, but when you do you look beautiful."

Eren broke off. That last one hadn't been supposed to sound like that. He hadn't even intended to say it at all, it just had slipped out. His breathing, he now realised, was heavier from talking so fast and barely catching a breath.

Though he avoided direct eye-contact, he still looked in Annie's general direction. His gaze hovered over her forehead or down to one of her ears, but it was still enough to catch a glimpse of the expression in her face.

Her eyes were wider than usual and she had absolutely frozen in place. If she had been surprised before, she now was in shock. It vaguely reminded him of how she had looked when he first had declined her offer to teach him her combat skills.

After what felt like minutes to Eren, but probably were just a few seconds, she blinked away her confusion and regained some composure. She adjusted herself by letting her feet slide from the bed and sitting more upright.

But she said no word. All she did was eyeing him with a look he could not quite pinpoint. It made him feel more uncomfortable than he already had been after blurting out those words without even realising.

Since Annie made no attempt to continue the conversation, he decided to try and brush over it by going back to what his original intent had been.

"The point I was trying to make," he picked up vaguely where he left off, "was that yes, I only know this much of you and yes, that is not a lot. So please, fill in the gaps for me so I can try and understand."

Her eyebrows narrowed at his last words. She was mad again. Despite the chains on her wrists she rose from her bed. Her left arm remained strangely stretched out behind her back, because her shackles restrained her from moving it any further away from the wall.

They still weren't at eye-level, because she was a head shorter than him. Despite all that she looked really intimidating – probably just as much as Captain Levi could if he wanted to. Eren shivered a little at the thought of him.

When she spoke her voice was quiet and firm, yet it had an undertone to it that was almost threatening.

"Since when are you trying to understand others and their reasons? Since when do you listen to what others say?"

Eren registered her intend to provoke him, but he remained strangely calm.

"Haven't you noticed?" he replied with barely more than a whisper. "I listened to you."

This took her off guard. Her eyes widened in surprise again and he could see her shrink back a little.

Then she turned sideways, taking some of the strain from her left arm as she no longer had to hold it in an uncomfortable angle behind her back. Bangs of her blond hair blocked most of her face from his view, but he still could see a smile gracing Annie's lips.

"You have a tendency to surprise me, Eren," she said softly and he liked the way she made his name sound maybe just a little too much. Her tone was warmer than he had ever heard it and there was no sadness in it like last time.

"You've got some surprises up your sleeves as well and they're not necessarily unpleasant," he mumbled. Regarding the pillow on her bed with a helpless smile, he wondered what had caused him to phrase it like that.

Her head turned towards Eren and there was open curiosity in her gaze.

"Since that day during our training in hand-to-hand combat I've been trying to put my finger on what it is with you," she admitted truthfully.

He shot her a puzzled look however he did not dig deeper.

Standing there in Annie's cell began to wear him out. How long had he been here anyway? He remembered the time limit, yet he decided not to think too much about it. If it was time to leave he'd risk getting dragged out by his hair, he wouldn't leave any moment sooner.

Judging that the probability of Annie attacking him was really low, he walked over and sat down on the foot of her bed. Following his example, she sank down on the spot in the middle of the bed. She let her shoulders slump a little as she did so. The gap he had left out of insecurity remained between them.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" he asked after a moment of sitting there in silence, his arms resting on his thighs.

"It's a long story," she replied, taking her time.

Somehow he felt too depleted to pressure her on the matter. Instead he let the silence take over again. It had something peaceful.

"Say, Eren…," she started after a moment. "Do you hate me?"

He turned towards her in surprise, meeting her gaze that was fixed on him. Did he? He felt confused thinking about it.

After returning with the scouts from their mission beyond the walls there had been no doubt about it: he had hated the female titan for what she had done. But when learning that it was Annie, he hadn't been able to tell anymore how he felt towards her and he had banned the thoughts of the female titan as far from his mind as he could.

"I- I do," he stated truthfully. "I hate the female titan for what she did. But," he swallowed, "I cannot hate you."

Annie shook her head at him.

"There's just me and what I did, no matter what form I took to do so."

He felt like crying. Because she spoke the truth and he knew it, but he still couldn't accept it.

"I know," he whispered weakly.

Something passed over her face, the fleeting shadow of an emotion. But it was gone before he could identify it. She raised her right hand slowly, staring intently at him. Her arm reached for him and she only stopped inches from his cheek as the chain tied to her wrist rattled from being strained.

Eren did not move. He just stared with wide eyes into the blue of hers, chest rising and falling a little faster than usual. Annie herself had frozen in her spot after reaching the limit of her hand's current mobility. Her face was unusually soft, her lips lightly parted and for a moment he could've sworn he saw her warm breath escape from them.

The door was bolted open and both turned towards it in surprise. Her hand had disappeared by her side so quickly it was almost like it had never been so close to touching his face.

Upon looking they saw Levi appear in the doorframe, a threatening shadow against torchlight.

"Time's up," he informed impassively.

"Y-yes," Eren replied, needing a little to collect himself.

He looked over to Annie, but she had turned away, taking interest in the wall to her right.

He didn't know what to say to her and he didn't want to test his impatiently waiting superior any further, so he got up wordlessly. Even when glancing back she kept her gaze stoically at the wall as he left.

The door was shut behind him and he could hear the Captain lock it as he stood frozen in the middle of the hallway.

"Did you get what you wanted?" Levi asked, stepping up beside him. Eren shot him a sideways glance, but the man did not look at him.

"No," he mumbled, looking at the floor.

"Thought not," was his superior's reply and with that he started walking, expecting the young scout to follow him.

Eren fell into step behind him, forcing himself not to look back as he walked away from Annie's cell.

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	3. 02: Out of Balance

_**Notes:**__ You probably guessed right: part 4 and 5 are now brought together in this chapter._

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**Chapter 2: Out of Balance**

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The door slammed shut and Annie was alone. Eren had parted without a word and she had let it happen in silence. What could they have said anyway? It's not like they were practiced in talking to each other. It's not like they knew what words to use or how to use them at all.

There wasn't any telling if they'd ever meet again. But knowing Eren she wouldn't be surprised if he somehow forced his way back to her. She had learned how stubborn he was. But then again she wasn't sure if he even wanted see her again. She didn't even know if _she_ wanted to see him again.

Releasing a long breath she finally tore her face off the wall where she had stared the last couple of minutes. Some of the tension that had built in her ever since that man had appeared in the doorframe left her with the air she exhaled. She let herself fall onto the pillow and rested the back of her hand on her forehead, blocking most of her vision.

That man, the captain – Levi was his name, if she remembered correctly. The mere thought of him gave her chills.

She still remembered their first encounter in a forest outside of Wall Rose. He had talked about chopping off her arms and legs. And the way he had said it had been so cruel, despite his voice being almost devoid of any emotion – or maybe exactly because of that. In the end she had kept her limbs, but he had cut her titan form up good.

She frowned. Thinking of him was something she wasn't very keen on. It was bad enough that he came by every other night to interrogate her. She was surprised he hadn't actually cut off some of her limbs to make her talk. But being in his presence was enough to make her freeze in place.

Closing her eyes she willed the unpleasant thoughts away as best as she could. Eren popped back into her mind. She had thought about him a lot these days. Their parting after her capture had occupied her most of the lonely hours in this cell. But also other memories had come up.

Eren, that idiot! That stupid, ignorant, naïve kid! How dare he act so righteous! How dare he make her heart skip a beat! She was so mad at him right now for being who he was. And she was mad at herself for being so unbelievably fascinated with him.

Why did she care what he thought of her? Why did she care if he hated her? She had placed her bet a long time ago it wasn't like some idiot would make her want to reconsider, right?

Annie raised her hand from her forehead, letting it hover a few inches above her face so she could examine it in the dim torchlight. It was the hand that had almost touched Eren's cheek. She stared at it in silence, contemplating what had been going through her mind back then. Had she actually wanted to kiss him?

She rested the hand over her eyes again, giving a dry laugh at the thought. She knew she had, there was no questioning it. Still, she couldn't quite tell why and that was driving her almost insane.

Yes, she respected Eren. He had his own stoic way of going about things and she could hardly say she agreed much with him, but he was standing up for what he believed and you didn't see that with too many people – not that vehemently anyway. It was a trait that had caught her attention and she often found herself torn between admiring his stubbornness and condemning his stupidity. But, unlike Jean for example, she had never bothered much to argue with him, because she had considered it rather pointless.

And that's why it had shocked her so much when he had stated that he had listened to her. There had been a soft tone in his voice she had never heard him use before. It had stroked her ears and made her stomach tingle.

She sighed to escape the lingering effect of the memory. Things sure had spiralled out of control – and not everything had been _her_ fault. After all Reiner had been the most pressed to call off the original plan of breaching Wall Maria and focussing on Eren when they had realised he was a titan shifter like them. True enough, she had easily rooted with Reiner on the matter, outvoting Berthold's reluctant protest. But that had been for practical reasons, not because she specifically liked Eren.

So when had she started to care so much for him? When had she started to care for anyone inside these walls at all?

Annie gave another sigh, this time it was in frustration. Tonight wasn't her first dip into such thoughts and she really wasn't keen on having them. But ever since the attack on Trost they had come up occasionally.

When she had apologised to that dead girl during their clean-up of the Trost district she had really meant it. She hadn't known her name, they'd probably never talked before, but they had trained together, had been comrades and Annie had betrayed her.

She had let them all down, had let her co-trainees die a painful death, alone and in fear. She had seen the same fear in the eyes of her survivors and even though she didn't like to admit it, it had stirred something in her.

Killing had never been a problem – she was trained to kill – but she wasn't used to seeing the aftermath of her deeds. She wasn't used to remembering their faces, how they had laughed, maybe how they had cried, how they had gritted their teeth while giving their best during their training. These thoughts had been what had kept her from killing Armin while she had squashed all the other scouts in her way like insects.

And that had been her grave mistake, because Armin had uncovered her. In a way he was the reason she was stuck in this cell and would probably never see daylight again.

Stupid emotions! Because of them she had messed up and now she was paying the price – which led her right back to Eren. And after his visit tonight, after she had been only inches away from touching him – from kissing him – the thought of him was almost torture.

He'd better not come back, she thought bitterly. Then she could gradually forget about him. She had to worry about herself, she didn't have the nerve to worry about Eren Jaeger's hurt feelings as well. It was simple as that. She had to find a way to get out of this cell, to survive and get back home to her father. That's all she needed to care about – at least she tried to tell herself so. But her thoughts kept going back to the people she had hurt and Eren's face became clearer in her mind the more she tried not to think of him.

She wished she'd never gotten stuck inside these walls. Then she'd never met all those people and wouldn't be in this dilemma. Or at least she should've rooted with Berthold for once and convinced Reiner to see the attack on Wall Rose through. Just get it over and done with then move on to Wall Sina, that's what they should've done. Instead she was caught and tied down in this rotten place and those morons Reiner and Berthold probably didn't even think about breaking her out.

Resigned she turned on her side and resumed the position she had been in before Eren's visit. Like this she stayed, staring at the wall while the anger boiling inside of her slowly ebbed off and left enough room for that dreadful guilt she had become acquainted with over the last month or so.

No one came to interrupt her mulling in her thoughts. And she did not sleep until the faint light of daybreak reached through the bars of her small cell window and exhaustion dragged her off into the unconscious state of dormancy.

She was wrapped up in a haze for most of the day, sliding barely into consciousness and then dozing off again. Occasionally a guard interrupted her in her sleep when bringing her food rations. However she never woke up enough to feel hungry, so she just had a few sips of water once and again and then dropped back onto her bed.

Like this the day faded and only as night fell she gradually dragged herself out of her dazed state. She was just in the process of stretching herself and giving in to a yawn when her cell door opened. But instead of seeing the expected Captain Levi to interrogate her once more, it was Eren who entered the cell.

It didn't really surprise Annie that he was back, though she had hoped she'd be spared from putting up with the emotional ordeal. It was not like she couldn't stand the sight of him anymore, but after their last few encounters she became strangely tense in his presence. Something inside her spiralled out of control and she found it hard to keep her cool around him. So she tried to retreat to a stronghold she barely had to use: anger.

However, that didn't quite work the way she wanted it to. The way he kept his distance, unsure of how to approach her this time, made her almost roll her eyes, yes. But it was kind of cute to see him so reluctant when most of the time he was so annoyingly straight forward and she really couldn't use that right now. And _that_ was what ticked Annie off.

She didn't want an endearing Eren. She wanted an angry Eren that was ready to lash out at her. Just like the first time he had fought her in his titan form when he hadn't known it was her.

Furious and raging, she could handle that. She could even handle the small episodes of fear it had caused in her. But endearing was something different. Endearing meant sympathy, and sympathy meant guilt – she had experienced more than enough of that for her liking.

She wanted to be angry at him. She wanted him to give her a reason to get really mad, to remind her of what a stupid idiot he was. Seeing him standing there in her cell, looking around without really knowing what to fix with his gaze, seeming so _lost_ wasn't really serving that purpose. If so, it did the opposite – and that made her mad, but it wasn't the kind of anger she wanted. It wasn't the kind of anger that made her disregard him.

It probably left her just as clueless as he was on how about to act now. She considered ignoring him – it definitely seemed better than throwing her pillow at him and telling him to get lost. And the previous night it had worked quite well for a bit. But back then she hadn't been aware that Eren had entered the cell.

This time she had basically jerked around at the sound of the door, because yes dammit, a part of her had been awaiting Eren already. She cursed that part as much as she cursed him but that didn't really change anything. And now she was facing him and ignoring him was only half as easy as if she had stayed turned towards the wall.

So she just sat – knees held tight to her chest by her arms – and stared. _He_ had come here, _he_ wanted to talk to her, so _he_ should be the one to open his mouth first. But he just stood there and uttered not a single word.

This time Annie couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. Did she really have to initiate conversation? Of course she could stay quiet until he either spoke or his time was up, but she couldn't stand the tension. She was on edge and it was especially disquieting, because she'd never experienced anything like it before.

"So?" she prompted curtly, not knowing what else to say.

Eren's eyes shot towards her at the sound of her voice, meeting her expectant gaze. He seemed to consider something, then made his way over to her and slumped down on the bed beside her. She noticed how he left less space between them than the last time.

"So," he dragged out the word a little, "I can't seem to let it go."

A variation of emotions from anger to resignation rushed through Annie. Somehow the latter was the one that stuck with her while the others faded as quickly as they had come up and she sighed.

"Why are you always in over your head?" she asked without really thinking.

He was obviously confused, because he turned towards her with a questioning "huh".

"I mean _this_," she pointed around herself with her hands, making her shackles rattle from the movement. Eren still didn't quite get it and blinked in confusion.

"What- you mean _you_?"

Annie shot him a look that was supposed judge him for being so slow on the uptake, but she wasn't sure if it actually delivered. She considered what she actually had meant and decided that he wasn't that far off.

"Yeah, something like that," she admitted then, leaning her head against the wall.

She caught his reaction only out of the corner of her eye. He slightly averted his head and – wait, was he blushing? Now this just wasn't fair! And what even was he thinking? Something told her she didn't really want to know.

"Don't tell me you can think of something else than killing titans," she muttered more to herself than to him, but he sat close enough to hear her.

"That's kind of insulting, you know," he replied. "Of course I also think of other stuff, for example…" His voice trailed off and left her curious.

"Yeah?" she encouraged him to finish his sentence.

"You know," he waved with his hands, which was unusual for him – apart from clenched fists he wasn't one to talk with his hands. "…you," he finished the sentence shyly.

Annie just stared. It probably shouldn't surprise her after the previous night, but she just couldn't quite comprehend it. How was he thinking about her? The way she thought about him, all twisted and torn? And why was her heart beating faster as their eyes locked now?

She wanted to look away and get a hold of herself, but she was caught. Was she imagining things or was Eren actually getting closer? Her breath hitched in her throat. He was actually leaning in. She thought about turning away, but she was frozen in place.

And then their lips touched, even though neither of them really knew what they were doing. Annie hadn't bothered with kissing before. Until the previous night it had been like the farthest thing from her mind. She could imagine things being similar for Eren.

Instinctively she went along, moving her lips against his, beginning to taste him. Her eyes fluttered shut, so she could focus on the sensation of their mouths lightly parting and pressing together again in repeated motion. But something was off.

This wasn't right. There probably were a bunch of reasons why they shouldn't be doing this, but her mind seemed to have shut down and couldn't remember a single one of them.

As his hand touched her neck her instincts kicked in and she roughly pushed him back, forcing him onto his back. She quickly followed in her movements, kneeling over him and pinning his arms down to the mattress. His eyes were wide in surprise about her sudden change of action.

Annie knew now what was off. She remembered now why they never should've kissed – not on this day, not the day before, nor any other day.

"Annie, wh-," Eren tried, but she cut him off.

"No!" she hissed. "Never!"

He didn't catch her drift, but just stared at her in confusion.

"You're so stupid sometimes, Eren Jaeger." Her tone was sharp enough to make him keep his mouth shut. "I thought we cleared this up yesterday. I'm the one that tried to kidnap you. I killed people right in front of your eyes just because they got in my way. You hate me. Be honest, you probably hate me from the bottom of your heart. So you don't just go ahead and kiss me!"

She was definitely mad at him now. He shouldn't need her to remind him. He had so much anger in him, but ever since their fight in the forest of gigantic trees he'd never directed it at her and it was wrong, it was not like him at all.

And she was mad at herself, because she had given in to this stupidity. She didn't need this. This wasn't surviving. This was manifesting stupid emotional bonds and it wasn't what would get her home to her father. The whole world was her enemy, how could she have forgotten about that? How had that idiot beneath her made her forget that?

Eren, too, was angry now. He fought off her hands that pinned him down and sat up as she let him go and backed away from him.

"Why did you have to remind me?" he spat at her.

"Because you're an idiot and were actually forgetting about it!"

"And you didn't just now?"

Annie took a moment to calm herself down a little. Then she replied quietly, but very sharply: "And it will never happen again."

She knew it was the truth. She could not slip up like this again or she might as well break her own neck. But if she played her cards right now and managed to push Eren away so he would never come back, she would have it a lot easier.

"Fine," he snapped, clearly hurt. Getting up rashly he added, "I'm done here," and walked over to the door.

She watched him hammer against the wood, keeping her face as impassive as possible. His knocks were answered quickly and he left the cell without another word or a look back, letting the door fall shut behind him.

Annie sank into her pillow again and allowed herself a few calming breaths. She had done it; she had pushed Eren out of her life, never to return again. Now she could focus on banishing him from her thoughts as well and thinking up a way to get out of here. Surviving and returning home like she'd promised, those were her priorities.

The door was yanked open once more, but this time it fell shut more silently. However, she was too overwhelmed from what had just happened with Eren to look up right away.

"That was quick."

Her jaw clenched at the sound of the captain's voice. She had no nerve to endure him right now.

"I hope it was sweet at least."

Oh, definitely not like this! If he wanted to be a mocking ass again, he clearly picked the wrong time. In her head she pictured turning into a titan and squashing him with her hands. It helped her to keep calm for the moment.

"Mind your own business." She managed to sound at least a little bored.

"Oh!" There was a slight shift in Levi's voice that differed a little from his usual indifference. "Talking back today? This is clearly going to be an interesting night."

Annie gritted her teeth even more. She really had no nerve for this right now.

Yes, it is going to be an interesting night, she thought, just you wait!

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	4. 03: Tumult

_**Notes:**__ Last combination of what used to be two parts. We're talking about part 6 and 7 of course._

* * *

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**Chapter 3: Tumult**

.: :.

Eren stayed in bed a little longer than usual. The incident with Annie on the previous night was enough to make him moody for at least a day, if not a whole week.

He considered if he could pass off as ill to avoid his duties and basically every human interaction. But he didn't expect to have good chances. Probably the captain would order him to some extra cleaning if he tried.

Demotivated he dragged himself out of bed and went about the troublesome business of getting dressed. The most annoying part about putting on the uniform was definitely dealing with the full-body belt for the 3DMG. He messed it up a few times this morning, because he wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing.

Eventually everything sat how it was supposed to and he made his way to get some breakfast. The former HQ of the Scouting Legion where they currently stayed was barely occupied. Apart from the captain and him there were only a hand full of guards that took turns in front of Annie's cell doors – and Annie herself of course, but she was locked up, so there was hardly a chance of walking into her while moving about.

When Eren entered what served as the mess hall he found it almost empty. Two guards who probably were on duty in the afternoon had just finished and went off to spend their free morning somehow. That left only him and the captain that still sat with his usual cup of tea at one of the tables.

Because anything else would've seemed strange and above all rude, Eren slumped onto the empty seat opposite of Levi, mumbling a curt "morning" in the process. His superior didn't even acknowledge it and kept staring absentmindedly past Eren's left ear. The young scout really didn't mind it though and tended to his breakfast in silence.

That was the good thing with the captain: he didn't bother with small talk. If he had something to say he said it, if not he stayed silent. And Eren had learned to do the same around him. He welcomed it actually, because he'd never been good at filling the silence with pointless conversations.

However, today something seemed different about the older man. He wasn't wearing his usual indifferent expression that made him seem bored by the world. His face was still nearly emotionless, but his narrowed eyebrows combined with a gaze that seemed to stare at an invisible horizon told Eren that he was mulling over something. And that he had never seen with him before.

Even though he really wasn't keen on starting a conversation, the teen felt obligated to check if his superior was doing alright. Seeing Levi who usually seemed in full control of everything act slightly different was unsettling.

"How's the leg?" he tried between two bites of bread.

The captain shot him a sideways glance and Eren was expecting to be told off. To his surprise however he was wrong.

"It's coming along."

It was a short reply, but Levi had answered, not questioning the young scout's sudden interest in his injured leg.

"Good," Eren commented, already out of things to say.

As he continued eating though, he kept eyeing the man seated opposite of him with caution. That was something said man could not ignore for long and he gave him an annoyed look.

"What is it?" he demanded impatiently.

The young scout used the time he needed to chew and swallow his mouth full of food to consider how he should go about this. His experience with the captain told him that it was best not to beat around the bush and so he decided to be blunt.

"Something's wrong," he noted.

Levi considered this while having a sip of his tea. When placing his cup back on the saucer, he resumed staring at an undefined spot at the other end of the room. Eren took that as a sign that he wouldn't get an answer. It didn't really surprise him, so he just went back to finishing his plate.

"I chopped off her limbs," the captain stated suddenly.

His subordinate nearly choked on a bite of bread. It didn't matter that he wasn't fully done with chewing yet, he swallowed nonetheless.

"You did _what_?!"

Levi just shot him a look meaning "you heard me".

Eren felt like he was going to be sick. He knew whose limbs they were talking about – there was no doubt about it. And though he had been mad at Annie up to this moment this certainly wasn't something he would wish on her.

Even worse than picturing her mutilated was the way the captain had said it. He had sounded so casual as if he had been talking about something trivial like the weather. It rendered the young scout almost speechless.

His superior rolled his eyes at him.

"Don't give me that shocked look. You wanted to know what was wrong, so I told you."

"How can you- mention it like it was nothing?! How- can you even _do_ that?!"

Eren was searching for words in his fury. He found it hard to remember how to breathe. Never before had he been so disgusted by the senior scout.

Levi didn't reply. He had resumed to stoically staring at the wall again. This outrage possibly didn't even reach him in his thoughts, but that didn't stop the boy from going on.

"You don't just cut someone's limbs off – whether they can regrow them or not! It still fucking hurts!"

The captain stayed impassive. He didn't tell him to shut up. He didn't remind him that they were in the military and they were fighting one nearly futile battle after another. That they needed all the information they could gain and desperate times demanded for desperate measures, so inflicting pain during an interrogation was the norm.

Deep down inside Eren knew that for himself. He had considered it from day one of Annie's capture and admittedly had been surprised when he'd learned that nothing like it had happened so far.

He had no right to be mad at his superior for doing his duty. Actually he should be furious at Annie for everything she'd done, but he just couldn't get himself to.

He propped his elbows up on the table and buried his face in his hands. Why was everything so complicated and fucked up? He had thought he knew what right and wrong was. He had thought he knew what side he was on. But it kept happening. Annie was cornered or hurt and he had the instinct to protect her, to fight for her.

And that instinct had almost brought harm to his childhood friends. Mikasa and Armin had almost died, because Eren had been reluctant to fight Annie. For him to get away they had been ready to get squashed by her titan hands – just like Levi's squad.

Annie was the enemy there was no doubt about that. And it left him feel torn and hurt and _so mad_. Because he didn't want her to be. Because he couldn't see her like that. Because he held her far too dear by now to think he ever could hate her and say she deserved to be squashed.

But he did hate her titan form and he knew that there was actually no difference between those two, yet he just couldn't get himself to accept that.

All these thoughts ate away at him and he couldn't hold back the tears anymore. They seeped out between his fingers accompanied by silent sobs that rocked his body. He didn't care that he wasn't alone. He didn't care that of all people to be there and see him like this it was the captain of whom he didn't know what to think right now. The flood of thoughts and feelings was just so overwhelming he had no choice but to let it out.

"Is it that bad?" Levi's voice was soft, almost sympathetic when he asked the question.

At the sound of these words Eren tried to regain some composure, swallowing down the sobs and wiping the tears from his now swollen eyes. However he dared not to look at his superior directly and neither was he capable of replying. He didn't even manage a nod, but the captain understood.

The man gave a sigh, rested one arm on the table and leaned over.

"Listen, Eren," he began and the sound of his name was enough to make the boy look at him and pay attention. "I know forgetting about her is hard – especially if you're constantly being reminded that she's here – but this is the kind of thing that will drag you down. In fact it has already started to do so, if I'm judging the situation correctly. So save yourself and get over it."

Eren swallowed hard while processing these words.

"That sounds like being selfish, yes, and it actually is," the captain continued, "but in the end selfishness is just a form of our survival instincts that are there for a good reason. Because when we love we tend to disregard ourselves in favour of caring for someone else. But there's no guarantee that someone will care for us and stop us from giving too much.

"In the long run we are responsible for ourselves and our happiness. You cannot depend on others to take care of that for you. They can support you in it, yes, but the main part is up to you. So you've got to take what's not good for you and cut it out of your life as best as you can."

Levi's voice had become more intense by the end of his little speech. It reminded Eren of that time when he had told him to do something about not being able to transform into a titan.

"Is that an order?" the young scout asked sheepishly. His superior gave a sigh.

"It's an advice – probably the best anyone could give you on the matter. So what you do with it is up to you but keep it in mind at least."

Eren nodded. He couldn't quite imagine the man being in love – it just seemed so strange because Levi usually showed little to no emotion – but he could tell that the captain knew what he was talking about – be it from personal experience or from seeing it happen to someone else. And so far the advice he had passed on to his subordinate had been of value.

He considered asking the older man about his experience on the matter, but he doubted he would be given any insight on it, so he dropped the thought.

"Take the day off," Levi said, leaning back in his chair again. "Go for a walk or something, whatever it takes to sort your thoughts out. But" – he fixed the young scout with his sharp eyes – "don't do anything stupid, are we clear."

"Yes sir! Thank you, sir!" Eren was quick to answer.

He finished the last bites on his plate and then left the mess hall. The captain stayed behind with his tea that had definitely gone cold by now.

Eren walked and walked without taking notice of his surroundings. His mind was racing fast and he just didn't know what else to do, so he had decided to follow Levi's suggestion and went out. Where to, he didn't know – or didn't bother to think about. His feet just moved, faster and faster until he was running.

When he finally came to a halt he found himself in the forest nearby the old headquarters – or at least he hoped he was still nearby. The exercise had actually taken its toll on him and Eren leaned panting against a tree to catch his breath.

The captain had told him to get over Annie, but how did you get over something? Hell, if he knew! Five years and he still hadn't forgotten about his mother's limb body being crushed by gigantic teeth. He had actually held on to the image, feeding his fury and determination to get where he needed to go to kill some titans. The only reason why he hadn't been thinking as often of it over the last two months was that so much had happened.

But he certainly wasn't over it – not completely. So how did he forget about Annie? Annie who was here, Annie who was still breathing, Annie who was in pain as her limbs regrew.

Eren squeezed his eyes shut, however that did not really help to ban the mental image that had appeared at the thought. Instead he could almost feel the pain surging through his body. He'd had a good taste of it in Trost when fighting the titans for the first time. First one had gotten a bite of his leg and then another had severed his arm and swallowed him. The memory of it made him wince.

And in his case the severing had happened quickly. Who knew, the captain might've taken his sweet time while cutting through Annie's arm. And then the other. And then the same procedure with her legs.

He shivered at this idea and shook his head rashly to get rid of it. He didn't need to think of that. Things were bad enough as it was. Picturing Annie in pain was just bringing his stomach close to hauling out his breakfast.

Leaning his back against a tree trunk he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to sort his thoughts out like Levi had suggested and wild fantasies were counterproductive.

If only Armin was here. Maybe his best friend's sharp mind could help bring some order into this mess. But then again Eren wasn't sure if he wanted to share his feelings towards Annie with him.

He certainly didn't want to tell Mikasa about it, for several reasons actually. She and Annie never really getting along was the one thing. The other had occurred more recently during their mission to capture Annie: When Eren had failed to turn into a titan in order to fight Annie Mikasa had inquired if he harboured some kind of special feelings for the blond girl.

Back then Eren had been too surprised by that suggestion to actually respond. But he'd had the reflex to deny it and would've probably been convinced that that was the truth. Now however he knew better.

He liked Annie that much he could say for certain – he had kissed her after all. And the thought of proving Mikasa's suggestion didn't appeal to him at all.

How much he actually liked Annie he found hard to tell. Was it love? Levi had used that word. However, whether he actually suspected Eren to be in love or whether that had been a more general scenario he had depicted to make his point, his young subordinate wasn't sure.

Eren rubbed his forehead. He wasn't the best analytic and trying to figure himself out seemed harder than anything he'd ever done in that field. So mulling it over wouldn't really get him very far. He needed someone to talk to.

Quite possibly he could approach Captain Levi for some more advice, but it didn't sit right with him. Yes, he might not be turned away if he admitted that he had problems with sorting things out on his own, but confiding in this man that – despite them having warmed up for each other during their time together – still intimidated him to some degree – he just wasn't comfortable with that.

He'd be damned before he asked one of the guards he didn't even know by name for help. So what options were left?

Should he request for Armin to be allowed to visit him? But that might take a while and he wasn't even sure if Armin – despite his brilliant mind – could be particularly helpful in this situation. So who else could he…?

And like this he had is answer. He didn't even have to consider it for long. Annie was here, the matter actually concerned her, so Eren might as well go and talk to her. It would probably be awkward and she'd most likely call him an idiot, but since both things had happened before he didn't feel like he had much to lose. And just maybe he could get a better idea of what she felt for him. She had kissed him back, so there had to be something.

Having made his decision, Eren broke into a sprint to get to the former headquarters as soon as possible. As he ran he tried not to think about what exactly would expect him in Annie's cell. Had her limbs grown back by now? He wasn't entirely sure how long the process would take. Also, the captain hadn't given any hints about when he had severed her arms and legs.

He reached the courtyard, causing the horses to shift in uneasiness as he dashed passed the stables. No one was in sight as he entered the gate of the building, barely reducing his speed.

It didn't occur to him that what he was about to do maybe was something from the category "stupid" that the captain had warned him not to do. It also didn't come to his mind that he at least should ask permission before going to Annie. Though he hadn't specifically been told to stay away from her since the first time he had been allowed to see her, he clearly didn't have the authorisation to do so whenever he pleased.

But these rational considerations did not concern Eren as for now. He didn't even pay proper attention to his feet. On his way down to the dungeons he stumbled and almost tripped on the stairs. Yet he found the right way without effort, despite only having visited Annie twice.

Before the turn into the corridor to his destination, he came to a halt, catching his breath the second time today.

He had no idea how to get past the guards, but he figured he'd improvise. So he straightened up and determinately walked around the corner. He didn't expect to intimidate scouts, who had been on several dangerous missions by now, much, but at least he could look like he belonged here, even though he was faintly aware that he probably was about to do something his superior would not approve of.

The two guards who were on duty noticed him and eyed him suspiciously as he approached. As Eren reached them, the male on the left, who was approximately two years older than him and about his height, stepped up between Eren and the cell door with crossed arms.

"You shouldn't be here," he commanded.

I know, Eren thought, but he wasn't going to admit that.

"I _have_ to be here," he replied instead. And it was the truth. He didn't have to mention that the reasons for him having to be here were personal and not an order from higher up.

Both scouts examined him with narrowed eyes, but Eren did not budge.

"Will you please let me through, so I can get on with this?" he asked them, managing to sound polite, but also a little annoyed and pressed on time. There was another moment of silence in which they just stared at him.

"No," the female scout on the right replied then.

Though she spoke silently, her tone was clear and there was something threatening in it. She looked to be around 19 years old and though she didn't seem much taller and less intimidating than the captain, she'd probably hold her ground against most people despite her physical disadvantage.

Eren considered his options as impassively as possible.

The male guard grew impatient.

"Didn't you hear us? You have no business here. Now get lost!" he barked.

Taking a deeper breath, Eren decided to be daring.

"I'll transform," he stated calmly.

For a moment they both stared.

"The f-," the guy started. "We're underground!"

"See if I care."

Eren kept his voice low and even managed to put a hint of roughness into it. His eyes grew a little wider as he let them sway between the two guards in his way. That was the good thing about having such an abnormal ability like transforming into a titan: people bought way more easily into the mad monster act.

They seemed to consider the possibilities while exchanging some glances. If Eren was lucky, they fell for his bluff and believed he would actually be mad enough to transform in a place like this.

In that case their chances weren't well despite wearing their 3DMG. Even if they had enough confidence in their skills to take on a titan with intelligence, Eren's transformation probably would destroy the ceiling. Should they manage to not get crushed from the debris that would be raining down on them, moving around with their 3DMG inside a crumbling building was probably impossible.

Eren was pretty sure their conclusions went something along those lines. And if they weren't some complete weirdos or were as sharp as Armin, they wouldn't be willing to take the risk of him transforming and wrecking the whole building. Of course neither would he – the captain could very well kill him for that – but they didn't have to know that.

"Fine," the woman said. Her narrowed eyebrows told him that she didn't like to give in.

Her partner opened his mouth in protest, but she didn't give him the chance.

"Let him through," she ordered her comrade and even though he still didn't look happy with it, he obeyed and stepped aside.

The female guard pulled out a key and unlocked the cell door, then pulled it open for Eren to enter. He suppressed a smile and held back a "thank you" that would've sounded too mocking to be ignored by them and passed them silently.

The door fell shut as soon as he was inside.

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	5. 04: Racked

_**Notes:**__ Here's the extended edition of what used to be part 8._

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**Chapter 4: Racked**

.: :.

"Captain!"

Levi who had been on his way to his office stopped in the middle of the corridor. Turning around he saw Herbert, one of the scouts who were stationed here to guard the cell of Annie Leonhard, approach him with quick steps.

He narrowed his eyebrows slightly at the sight of the young man, having a sense of ill foreboding. Everything about the situation told him that something was wrong. And in this barely occupied place – the former headquarters of the Scouting Legion – the possibilities as to what could be the cause of that were limited.

"Shouldn't you be on guard right now?" he demanded.

"Yes sir!" Herbert confirmed, halting before him and saluting. "I'm here to report that Eren Jaeger just forced his way into the cell of the imprisoned Annie Leonhard."

Levi's eyebrows drew even closer together as his instincts were proven to be right yet again.

"He did what?" he growled, though he had understood very well.

Herbert was uncomfortable for having to report the unpleasant news to the captain which would explain why the brown-haired boy stared straight ahead instead of looking at his superior, still saluting as he continued.

"He threatened to transform into a titan and wreak havoc should we not let him pass."

Levi almost groaned. What was that stupid brat Eren Jaeger thinking? Hadn't he told him to get that girl out of his life and not to run straight back to her? And what was that idiot doing now? Not only had he gone back to Annie Leonhard's cell without asking permission, he also had threatened the guards with transforming into a titan. Could you be any more reckless and – above all – stupid?

He wasn't even sure if Eren had only been bluffing to get his way in or if he'd actually been serious about it. But if he had been serious he was a bigger shithead than Levi had thought. He was not sure what he was going to do with the boy in that case.

Cursing Eren Jaeger in his mind for being such a pain in the ass, he rubbed his forehead. Herbert was still standing there, awaiting his orders. At least he had stopped saluting or Levi might've actually told him to do so.

The dark-haired man sighed barely notable before addressing him.

"Return to your post and stand by," he instructed. "I will come by later and check on things."

"Sir?" The scout seemed confused about the orders. He dared to look at Levi's face.

"Just leave them be for now," the captain explained. "You made the right call to let him into the cell. It's less troublesome compared to him transforming in the dungeon and possibly ruining the whole building."

Levi did not mention his suspicion that Eren had bluffed. He decided to give Herbert a little affirmation instead, since the young man seemed troubled about having failed in his duty. And it really wasn't Herbert's fault that Eren was such a shithead, so Eren should be the one to suffer all the consequences. How exactly those would look like, he would decide depending on the situation when he reached the dungeon.

"Dismissed," the captain told Herbert who was still standing in place.

After another salute the scout strode off and Levi looked after him, already lost in thought.

This day clearly wasn't a good one. As if the night with the Leonhard girl hadn't been bad enough, now Eren had to cause trouble as well.

Levi hoped that things wouldn't go to hell with these two together right now. He really could do without another mess to clean up today. And he definitely needed to clear his head a little before he could deal with that brat Eren's stupidity that had to come in bloom at such an inconvenient time.

Apart from him no one knew that Annie currently wasn't shackled.

Those two better be too busy with their lovey-dovey things to jump at each other's throats or Erwin would give him hell for not looking after Eren or losing an important prisoner – or possibly both.

Supressing another sigh, Levi made his way to the kitchen to get himself a cup of tea. That was just what he needed before sorting things out in the dungeon. While he walked through the corridors he found himself recalling the events of the previous night.

_He still held the blade in his hands. The one he had borrowed from the guards outside in his stinging fury. The one he had used to sever that blond witch's limbs inch by inch, slowly so that he had been sure she had felt every single second of it._

_The blood was long gone from it. He had wiped it off in his usual manner to keep things clean. But he couldn't wash his hands from what he'd done. That knowledge stuck to him even stickier than the actual blood he had spilled. And now that the rush of anger had ebbed away and the guards had silently disposed of the severed limbs, stained bed sheets and the blood on the floor, he felt strangely empty._

_The air in the cell was hot and moist from the steam rising from her regrowing arms and legs. The blond girl was silent most of the time, only rarely he could make out a muffled moan from here. She was trying to be brave, he knew. It must fucking hurt!_

_Levi took no pleasure in Annie Leonhard's pain. He tried not to think too much about the remorse he felt at what he'd done. Mostly he wondered what had been up with the girl this time._

_Usually she was impassive, barely reacting to his presence and answering his questions with silence. He recognised this quality from himself. High emotional self-control that passed off as boredom towards others was something he had perfected for himself early on. That's why she reminded him a bit of himself when he had been that age. If they'd met in different circumstances they might've gotten along pretty well, he thought._

_But tonight she had been different. She had lashed at him, she had _provoked_ him. A part of him couldn't fight the impression that she had wanted for him to hurt her. And when he had done it she had sneered at him as if to prove that he had nothing on her. He wondered if it had something to do with Eren._

_By now, Levi had no doubt that Eren cared more for Annie than was actually good for him. But he couldn't tell if it was mutual. Part of him had hoped to gain some insight when bringing these two together. But on the previous night he had decided to leave her be after Eren's visit to her cell._

_It had been intuition. When Levi had opened the cell door to pick Eren up, he'd had the feeling that he'd been interrupting something. The tension in the room had been almost concrete. So he'd taken a bet and wanted to let things play out a little between these two._

_But tonight Eren had stormed off after being in the cell for a rather short amount of time and Levi had known that he couldn't depend on the instable emotions of a hormone-driven teenager. Because soldier or not, to some extend Eren was still a kid._

_So he had gone back to taking the matters into his own hands again. And that's what had let him here leaning against the wall of this stifling hot cell and waiting for the limbs to regrow that he had cut off._

_He wasn't even sure why he stuck around when he could just as well leave her to herself. But he was fairly certain he wouldn't get to rest anyway, so it didn't really matter._

_Suddenly he registered movement from the corner of his eye. Before he knew it, Levi was grabbed by his collar and dragged away from the wall. Then a foot was wrapped around his ankle and stole his balance with a quick jerking movement. He landed hard on his back, the air rushing from his lungs from the impact._

_Annie was on top of him, pressing her small hands firmly against his throat. Apparently she had waited for her limbs to regrow, so she could catch him off guard while she was still untied. And he had actually been so sloppy to give her the opportunity._

_The blade had slipped from his hand during the assault and now was out of reach. His arms were sprawled out on the floor in a gesture of surrender. He really had messed up._

_Levi looked up into her cold blue irises, filled with murderous intent. It was almost like looking into a mirror. Yet, when their eyes locked, something soft flashed in hers. She was hesitating._

_"Come on – do it!" he pressed out._

_The blond girl bared her gritted with trembling lips, but she did not tighten her grip._

_"This is your chance, isn't it? Get me out of the way, get Eren and get out of here," he teased._

_He wasn't scared of dying. He'd been prepared for it for a long time now. Being choked to death or being bitten in half – it was all the same to him. Dying here or dying on the next mission, right now he didn't care either._

_Death wasn't something honourable anyway. Most soldiers died in pain, and in fear, and in agony, and alone. He'd never expected anything better for himself. In that prospect things hadn't changed much for him from the times he had still been roaming the streets as a criminal._

_Her hands were shaking now and her eyes had grown wide. She looked more weak and fragile than he had ever seen her – and he had seen her cry in her titan form. It was ironic. Wasn't she the attacker? Shouldn't she be in control? Was it because he had mentioned Eren? He was willing to put it to the test –and if it was the last thing he did._

_"Or are you going to leave Eren behind?"_

_He took a moment to consider how to phrase his teasing words best. So far she hadn't reacted notably to the repeated mention of Eren._

_"He'd be hurt if you left without giving him an explanation, don't you think?"_

_This time he had hit home. For a moment her shaking hands were still wrapped around his throat and her face was strained from conflicting emotions he couldn't keep up with, but then the pressure was gone. So was the weight of her body as she got off him and walked out of his view._

_Levi pressed his eyes shut while adjusting his breathing to a normal level. His lungs were burning from the sudden access of air._

_That had been a close call. Erwin would've raised him from the dead only to kill him again if Levi hadn't survived this. He wondered if Eren's recklessness was rubbing off on him. How troublesome._

_As breathing became less painful, he picked himself up from the floor as gracefully as he could. The dirt stuck to his clothes from his encounter with the stone tiles. He regarded it dismissively as he dusted himself off as good as possible. A few steps away the blade was still lying on the floor._

_Annie stood by her bed facing the wall, so he couldn't see her face when he turned to her. Shoulders slumped her bare arms were hanging down beside her and her head was tilted downwards. She looked somewhat resigned._

_With his arms crossed he resumed his leaning position against the wall like nothing happened. He decided to continue the interrogation, but this time he would take it to a new field. It seemed he had struck gold._

_"So Eren, eh?" he prompted._

_This time she did not react to the name – at least not as far as he could tell. She just stood there in front of the bed in her torn up clothes not changing her posture even a little. He made a mental note to have her arranged some new clothes. The ragged hems of her sleeves and the legs of her pants reminded him too much of how he'd lost control._

_"It's not what you think." Her tone was silent and a little raspy, but calm._

_"Oh?" Now he was listening attentively. "In your opinion, what am I thinking?"_

_She still was turned away, so he couldn't pick up any slips in her expression – if they even were there at all. Her body language was unreadable anyway, because she hadn't moved even a tiny bit since he had turned towards her. He had to hope for her answer._

_"That I'm in love with him."_

_It was barely a whisper, but Levi heard her. He couldn't stop his eyebrows from shooting up a little. Did she feel caught? Usually when people got defensive and denied something it was because it rang true to some degree. And if his judgement wasn't off from the leftovers of adrenaline rushing through his veins after her assault on him she seemed to have just done that._

_Unfolding his arms he pushed himself from the wall. Keeping her in his eyesight he slowly walked over to where the blade was still lying._

_"I didn't even imply that," Levi told her as he bowed down to pick up the blade, his eyes trained on Annie Leonhard's figure. She flinched barely notable and wrapped her arms around herself, as if she needed comfort. That was the only movement he make out. _

_He could leave it at this, having her wonder how much he had figured out. It was something he could pick up on the next time he came to interrogate her. Maybe he could leave her to it for a few nights actually, letting it eat away at her and making her more worked-up by the time he came around again._

_Because he took pity on her, or because he was a little disgusted by the thought of having to touch her regrown wrists, he did not put her back into shackles. In her current state he figured she wouldn't start a riot. The wave of fierceness seemed to have ebbed off. She was harmless – at least for now._

_He left the heated cell and passed the guards without a word. This night had given him some interesting insight. It hadn't been any more successful on learning about their enemy, but he had learned something about Annie Leonhard. And if he played his cards right, he might be able to tear off some layers and get some truth out of her._

He had yet to write the report on this night and he seriously wasn't looking forward to it. It had never been one of his favourite parts of the job, but how did you objectively describe how you lost control and mutilated a girl?

He'd never written a report about himself inflicting violence on others before and the thought of it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Because doing something gruesome and writing about it were two completely different things. He was trained to do it without a hint of hesitation or emotion. He didn't know how to put it into words, though.

Levi finished his tea and rubbed his temples. There was no one around, so he allowed himself this moment of weakness. But just a couple of seconds and then it was over.

He pushed back his chair, the noise of wood scratching over stone disturbing the quiet of the hall as he got up. Usually he didn't mind the silence in the building that was too big for a handful of people. But today it irked him. It left too much room for unpleasant thoughts.

With the empty cup he stopped by in the kitchen. Then he finally made his way to Annie Leonhard's cell. There was no putting it off any longer, even if he wanted to.

As he headed down to the dungeon, he hoped things weren't too messy when he got there. Bringing Annie and Eren together after all had proven to be a risk that had an unpredictable outcome. If they picked up from where they had stopped the night before, they might as well be at each other's throats by now.

He pushed away the thought of it. His indifference was endangered should he linger on it any longer. He guessed he'd just have to see for himself upon getting there.

At least the corridor to Annie's cell wasn't collapsed as he walked into it. But he really hadn't expected that to be honest – he'd have known far sooner if two titans had been raging in the dungeon. Roaring and collapsing stone walls would've alarmed every present soldier for sure.

"So, how are things?" Levi demanded to know when he reached Herbert and his co-guard Ella.

Fleetingly he noted that she wore her auburn-brown ponytail more loosely than during missions. She seemed to have a good balance between being practical and staying comfortable. It was not a bad feat to have.

"Nothing peculiar, as far as we can tell," Herbert reported.

And again he saluted. Levi really wished he would stop overusing this formality. But he said nothing of course. If this was the young scout's only conspicuous habit, he was better off than most of his comrades. The scouts were a club of weirdoes – admittedly the captain himself was no exception.

"Good," Levi noted, not showing the hint of relief he felt at those words.

Then he positioned himself opposite the door, leaning against the wall in his usual stance with arms crossed.

"Captain," Ella spoke up, but paused a little before inquiring, "what now?"

He barely glanced at her straight face, before he simply stated: "We wait."

Levi trained his eyes on the locked cell door. Whatever was going on behind it right now, he might never learn. He just hoped there wouldn't be another mess to clean up today.

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	6. 05: Giving in

_**Notes:**__ And here it is: the longer (and hopefully improved) version of what used to be part 9. A thank you to Jesse (Salaeren). I've considered your thoughts on the first version for the further development of this chapter._

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**Chapter 5: Giving in**

.: :.

"I'm so, _so_ sorry."

It was the first thing that came to mind even before he had taken in the situation in the cell. Eren didn't blurt it out though like he was in haste. The words were heartfelt and sincere. His voice was low and almost resigned from the pain it caused him to say it.

He knew it wasn't much, yet it was all he could manage for now. Words had never been his speciality. And he was particularly bad with apologies – even if he himself hadn't been wrongdoer this time.

Annie propped herself up on her right arm to face him better and eyed him curiously.

Now that he actually looked at her, she didn't show any sign of being mutilated. In fact, nothing in the cell indicated the gruesome deed. He couldn't even make out a stain of blood. The only proof seemed to be her clothes. Both her sleeves and the legs of her trousers were mostly missing. And the frayed hems were coloured dark red – the only inelegance that hadn't been taken care of.

"Why are you apologising?" Annie wanted to know. Though she spoke in her usual impassive tone, she seemed surprised by his entrance. Her eyes looked a fraction wider than was normal.

Eren swallowed. He didn't want to bring up unpleasant memories, if she only had healed recently. So he decided to be as vague as possible – also because spelling it out would definitely hurt _him_.

"I heard what happened last night…"

She blinked at his reply. "That doesn't answer my question."

Eren was confused and a little uncomfortable because he had to explain things further. Uneasily he shifted his weight on his feet.

"I'm sorry for what happened, that's all I wanted to say," he mumbled.

It wasn't what he had come for, but as he had entered the cell he'd known that this was what he had to tell her first. Only then could he even consider talking to Annie about liking her.

She let herself drop back onto the bed and looked at the ceiling.

"You're weird," she stated, "and idiotic."

Eren frowned. That was not exactly the reaction he had expected. Was he missing something again? Or was this still because of the previous night? He didn't get offended by her remarks though. His confusion about where they had come from was too big.

Maybe because he stayed silent, she turned towards him again. This time she sat up, positioning herself in the middle of the bed. Crossing her legs, she rested her sleeveless arms on her bare knees. In the corner of his mind Eren noted that he'd never seen her in clothes that covered so little of her body. However her piercing stare chased these thoughts away quickly.

"What even _do_ you know about last night?" Annie inquired.

"You know- that…," his words trailed off as his eyes wandered over to her bare arms. He couldn't get himself to say it.

"You mean that your captain cut off my arms and legs," she completed his sentence.

Her voice sounded detached, like it had nothing to do with her. It made him want to scream. Why was she acting so indifferent after probably going through hell? She had every right to hurt or be angry or anything – why was she so fucking calm?

"You're really stupid," she claimed in her usual bored voice.

With her right hand she tucked a few strands of blond hair behind her ears. Only now did he notice with surprise that there were no shackles on her wrists.

"Like usually you judge a situation before gaining all of the details," Annie continued, her voice sounding a little fiercer. "Have you even considered that I might have provoked him?"

"I…," Eren tried to reply, but he didn't really know what to say. So he just stared at her with his mouth gaping open. To him she was a bad liar, yes, but he never could tell why she said the things she said – especially not recently.

Unfolding her legs and putting her feet on the ground, she stemmed herself up on her arms while she leaned back a little. There was a strange glint in her eyes as she examined him.

"I wonder how you'd react if I told you the things I told him last night." Her tone was low and her mouth twitched up in the indication of an evil smile.

Eren didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. He'd never seen her look so malicious. He didn't want her to look so malicious. What the fuck was up with her? This was not what he'd come for.

"You know, Eren," the way she made his name sound in that strange, low tone sent an unpleasant shiver down his spine. "Those comrades of yours – the people that fought with and for you – died a pointless death. The scouts are mere sacrifices."

His eyebrows narrowed as the anger began to build in his stomach. But he was still unexpectedly calm for his standards. He walked over to her and gripped her by her shoulders.

"What the fuck are you saying?" he growled leaning over her and gripping her by her shoulders.

Annie made no effort to reply, she just tilted back her head so she could look into his eyes. Slowly she took his head into her hands and pulled him into a kiss. He was bent over in an uncomfortable angle, but he did not move. Neither did he kiss her back. He just stared past her at the wall.

Yet as her tongue traced along his lips and claimed entry, he opened up and let her taste him. She explored his mouth, while he was frozen in place, almost numb to the sensation of her touch.

As she released his lips after a while, she still kept him in place with her hands, ensuring that their faces were only inches apart. He noticed that his breathing was involuntarily just as hitched as hers. Their eyes explored each other, trying to figure out the other's thoughts.

"I have failed as a warrior," she stated, her voice raspy. "And I like to think it's your fault."

Eren wasn't sure what she was talking about, but that she blamed him for failing made his stomach and knees feel weak. This time he leaned in to initiate a kiss, but she pulled back a little, preventing their lips from touching. He hovered over her, nose almost pinching her cheek and feeling the warm air she exhaled onto his skin.

But he wasn't going to be satisfied with that. He took her face into his hands, so she could no longer avoid his lips as he pressed them onto hers. And she gave in to him, her hands sliding down as her mouth cooperated with his.

Eren inched closer at her touch, bringing up his right knee on the mattress to hold his balance. His tongue explored her mouth for the first time and though he wasn't quite sure what he was doing it sent an excited shiver down his spine.

Slowly Annie's hands wandered around to his back and pulled him even closer. He almost fell over again, bringing his left hand down just in time to hold himself up. But that wasn't enough for her. She slid sideways, gently urging him to move along with her, hands on his back and her lips still holding his captive.

He followed her carefully until she lay on her back and he was kneeling on all fours above her on the bed. Their lips lost touch as he halted to take in the sight before him.

"What?" Annie asked as his gaze travelled over her upper body.

She was a little flushed and breathless from their intense kiss. It was hardly any different for him.

"I just wanted to appreciate this moment," Eren stated, eyes focusing on her face again. "Usually you're the one on top."

He felt a little silly speaking his mind. He really had no idea how to behave in this kind of situations. Did you talk? Did keep your mouth shut unless you had something to say that most certainly wouldn't ruin the mood? Or did you keep your lips too busy with other things to even think of speaking?

Probably bringing up their training days when she had taught him her special moves in hand-to-hand combat wasn't very suitable. Or was it? He really didn't know. Strangely enough it didn't seem like a too different situation right now. But maybe his mind was currently just dysfunctional.

"Oh shut up," Annie commanded, but there was one of her rare soft smiles on her lips.

Her hands gripped his shirt and dragged him down, so she could engage him in a kiss again. He gave in easily and they rolled sideways until his back was against the wall. Annie pushed forward, wrestling a little with his hands as she did so.

He met her fierceness with his own, not willing to let her take over. Gradually he shoved her backwards again, so he could inch out of the corner she had landed him in. Their lips were still intertwined, their tongues getting better and better at tasting and exploring and dancing around each other.

Annie's hands had returned to the back of his neck and her fingers played teasingly with strands of his hair. It provoked Eren to become more daring. He pushed forward more vigorously, rolling her onto her back again and pressing his body into hers. She submitted and pulled him even closer by his neck.

On an impulse he retreated from her mouth, trailing off to her jaw and down her neck. There was so much more of her body he wanted to explore, not only with his hands that currently were taking a liking to her hips.

She gasped as he decided to use is tongue to trace up her neck. That incited him to remain a little longer on the sensitive area and test her reaction. But soft kisses sparked not enough in her to satisfy him, so he intensified the sensation his lips left on her skin and started to suck. Carefully at first, then harder to test how far he could go.

Her body tensed and her fingers pulled the strands of hair on the back of his neck. The reaction sparked excitement in him, but there was also worry rooting in his inexperience. Was he going too far? Should he stop? So he wondered, yet he liked the way he could make her respond too much to just shy away.

"Eren…"

The way she shakily breathed out his name electrified him. Had he had more experience – or rather any experience at all – he'd enjoyed to push her even further. But as it was, his worry made it hard to tell pleasure from pain. He let go of the skin he had sucked on her neck and brought his head on eye level with her again.

"Are you alright?" Eren asked with concern in his panting voice.

Annie gave a short, breathless laugh and nodded.

"I didn't know you were so good with your mouth," she managed, breathing equally accelerated.

"Erm… thanks." He wasn't really sure how to reply. "I didn't know either."

Her features lightened up in a way he'd never seen with her before as she laughed openly. He wasn't sure what exactly had spawned it, but he knew that he wanted to see her like this more often. It made life seem so good. It made the world seem more beautiful than he'd ever considered it to be.

Shifting sideways, he propped himself up on his right arm to enjoy the view. With his free hand he stroked a few strands of blond hair out of her face as she calmed back down. He wanted to hold on to the moment and dwell in the sweetness of being with her for as long as he could.

Her blue eyes wandered over to him. The smile had faded, but her lips were still slightly parted in the aftermath.

"What?" Annie asked almost in her normal tone of boredom. But it was not dismissive it was just the way she usually talked.

"What "what"?" Eren returned the question, because he didn't know what she was referring to.

"You've got this weird expression…" – she paused, thinking of a way to describe it – "...like you just woke up from a really good dream or something."

He gave a short, sincere laugh.

"Maybe because I'm happy," he offered.

"Happy?" she repeated, looking more surprised than she sounded.

Eren's face fell as he remembered the circumstances they were actually in. Annie was a prisoner. They were on opposed sides. And in the previous night she had had her limbs cut off, probably enduring long hours of pain in which they regrew.

"Or is it too early to be happy?" he asked unsure.

She looked away, giving it a thought.

"I don't know," she admitted.

Silence took over and Eren felt a little disheartened. He had gotten so carried away by the sensation of his lips on hers and on her skin he had forgotten a very ugly truth. And now he felt like he had messed it up.

He placed his right arm on the pillow – his elbow in a slight angle so his hand didn't hang out of the bed – and rested his head on it. The fingers of his other hand wandered over to her right arm, above which they hovered hesitantly. After remaining like this for a moment he plucked up his courage and brought down his index finger on her skin right by the bloody hem of her sweater.

She inhaled sharply – probably because of the memories rising at his touch – but she did not shake him off. Gently he drew small circles across her skin where the frayed cloth ended. His thumb joined in and he started stroking down her arm.

"He shouldn't have done that to you," he whispered while caressing her skin with his hand.

Annie's face was still averted from him, so he could see her profile but not look into her eyes. He couldn't read her expression, it was without emotion.

"It's alright," she replied quietly, sounding just as dull as she looked.

Again she was so detached on the matter and it sparked Eren's anger.

"No, it's not!" he disagreed. Though he spoke up to emphasise his words, he did not shout. However he composed himself and adapted a softer tone when he continued. "You don't have to brush it off, like it's nothing. It's okay not to be strong all the time."

Silence engulfed them once more. Annie who had remained frozen in place until now, stirred beside him. His hand still rested on her arm, so he could feel small trembles making their way through her body – first almost insignificantly weak, but then gradually growing stronger.

When she turned towards him he saw the tears in her eyes as the sobs rocked through her.

Once again he had said something without thinking. He had simply spoken his mind, without anticipating her reaction. And now he didn't quite know how to deal with her unexpected outburst of emotion.

Eren knew that more words wouldn't be able to comfort her now. So he did the only thing he could think of: he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. She slid against him and pressed her face into the fabric of his shirt. He could feel every silent sob shaking through her now.

"I just want to go home."

Her words were muffled against his chest. They felt so strangely familiar to him and he knew it was because they had accompanied him over the last five years in the back of his mind. And maybe it had been just the same for Annie. And maybe just like him something had prevented her all this time from returning there.

Eren pressed his lips to her head. His hands rubbed her back soothingly and gradually she seemed to calm down and the trembling of her body declined.

Eventually Annie broke away from him and sat up. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, regaining some of her composure.

"I'm sorry," she said a little abashed. "I didn't mean to unload this all on you."

He sat up next to her, bringing back some of their previous closeness. His right hand found her shoulder and his lips were inches away from her temple, but he dared not kiss her right now. So he just let her feel his warm breath on her skin.

"It's okay," he assured her.

Annie leaned into him, letting his lips meet her temple. Eren wrapped his arms around her again and turned his head sideways so her forehead rested against his cheek. They remained silent in the comfort of each other's warmth and it was almost peaceful after the turmoil of emotions that had flooded them since he had entered the cell today.

In this moment as he smelled her scent so close by her side and thought about Annie – of how natural it felt by now to touch her, to embrace her, to kiss her – Eren realised it. The answer he had come for – he knew it now without question.

A sense of daring gripped him. He couldn't tell if the words would come out right. He wasn't even sure if now was the right moment. But he wanted to share this moment of clarity with her.

"Annie," he whispered, "you know, I…"

His voice trailed off as she leaned away a little and turned her head to face him. Her lips were so close it was hard to resist the urge to kiss them. They shared a look and it was like she could read it in his eyes.

"Don't!" she stopped him, just as he was about to say it.

Before he could protest she pulled him into a feverish kiss. As their mouths met she chased away the words from his lips. Their hands reached for each other again, bringing their bodies closer together. But she drew away from him all too soon, leaving him panting and longing for more.

Something passed over her face, a thought he couldn't uncover.

"Come back tomorrow," she breathed, her finger tips tugging at the back of his neck. "I will tell you everything. That captain of yours can come and listen, too, if he wants. I don't even care anymore."

Annie pressed another kiss on his speechless lips and he willingly met her with the same intensity. His tongue was challenging hers and he revelled in the sensation of her fingers tangled in his hair.

After a few sweet, but too short moments she released his lips and Eren knew it was time to let go.

"Tomorrow," he murmured breathlessly, his face still hovering before hers, extending their intimacy only a little. She barely nodded in affirmation, but he didn't need it.

He let his lips brush her cheek as he climbed over her and got off the bed. After a few moments to normalise his breathing he turned and walked to the door.

While he knocked and waited for the guards to let him out, he could feel her eyes on his back. Her breath still sounded a little hitched. A smile stole itself on his lips, knowing that he'd caused her panting. But it only lasted a few seconds.

The key was turned in the key hole and the female guard pulled the door open. She stepped aside to let him through and the opposite wall came into his vision. Eren's stomach dropped and the aftereffect of the bittersweet intimacy he just had shared with Annie dispersed. There the captain leaned, his sharp gaze fixing him.

He was done for, the boy thought as he reluctantly walked out into the corridor. The guards had probably reported his little act to get into the cell and now his punishment would follow. He surely was in for a beating if not for worse.

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	7. 06: Unexpected Turns

_**Notes:**__ Sorry for the late update, this chapter really gave me some trouble. I'm still not really happy with the second half, but I needed to convey some information to Eren, so I couldn't leave it out. I'll probably end up doing a longer Tumblr post about the tribulations I had with this chapter in the 'aus writing' tag - and believe me, the chapter title is only a minor issue._

_**Edit:**__ Here is the post, if you want to read the extended notes: _leviplease,tumblr,com/post/62091785979_ (Replace the commas with dots for the link to work.)_

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**Chapter 6: Unexpected Turns**

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"So?" Levi asked still leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Did you get what you came for this time?"

"Er…"

The question took Eren by surprise. He'd expected at least a little bit of anger coming his way and probably something along the lines of "you've really gone too far this time, brat" or "now you're really making me do it, brat" or he didn't even know – definitely something with him being called a brat in a threatening way. But instead he was asked the same question as he had received when leaving Annie's cell for the first time the other night like it was nothing, like he was allowed to be here.

He stared at his superior, trying to measure how mad the man was. Anger seemed to be the first thing to seep through the mask of indifference. But as usual the impassive face gave nothing away about the feelings of the man behind it. If he was boiling he hid it incredibly well.

"Yes, pretty much," the young scout stated truthfully – because in a way or another he had.

He wasn't quite sure how to behave towards the captain now, but he figured honesty was his best shot. Well, not that he'd had many options to answer that question. There really was no point in saying "no", was there? Maybe it would spare him further questions as for now. But he might as well be caught at lying. After all he hadn't tested his ability to be deceiving in a while.

"Good," Levi just said and pushed himself away from the wall. "Let's go."

Eren was left perplexed as the man started heading down the corridor. However he caught himself quickly enough and managed an affirmative "yes" before actually hurrying after his superior. The thoughts in his head had picked up an even quicker pace.

Was he off the hook so easily? Or had Levi a punishment in mind that would require them to go somewhere specific? Maybe the captain just didn't want to beat him up in front of the guards. Because no matter how nonviolent his superior's behaviour towards him had been ever since his trial – that first impression still stuck with the boy unpleasantly, even though he knew it had been an act.

As he caught up with the captain, he fell into a silent trot beside him. His eyes occasionally wandered to search the smaller man's face for a hint of anger – anything at all. But there was nothing he could make out. So he decided to say nothing regarding his unauthorised visit to the dungeon until the older man brought it up himself.

"You didn't mention she provoked you," Eren noted as they were out of the guard's earshot.

Now that he had gained some new insight on the events of the previous night it was his way of coming to terms with Levi after his outburst in the mess hall earlier this morning. Maybe he even could pass it off as an apology, though it wasn't an entirely earnest one.

He still thought what the captain had done was horrible and he wasn't willing to forgive him yet – not after Annie had cried in his arms. But he was a soldier after all and Levi was his superior and they were not supposed to have sympathy with the enemy. So from this point of view he didn't really have the right to speak up.

Levi shot him a glance with a raised eyebrow that could almost be called amused. Maybe he wasn't angry after all, but Eren didn't dare to bet on that. Not yet.

"Did she mention that? How cute," the man commented in – had there been a hint of mockery in his tone? Eren wasn't sure. But maybe he'd just imagined it.

"You don't have to be so mean," he mumbled without thinking.

The reply he received was clearly sarcastic this time.

"Oh, I'm sorry not all of us where so privileged to train with miss tiny-killer-titan and get to know her good side. I'm sure she's lovely when she doesn't squash people."

Eren did not point out that a remark regarding Annie's height was ironic coming from Levi. He didn't want to strain the man's good will and patience any further for the day. Most of all he tried not to jump into an argument over how his superior saw the blond girl. It was highly inappropriate – so much even he could tell – and the captain had a point: Eren had met Annie as a comrade Levi however had met her as an enemy.

What would _he_ have done, Eren wondered, if he hadn't known Annie for three years? How would he treat her if it wasn't for the bond with her he had unconsciously developed while sparring with her? If he thought back to their fight in the forest of giant trees and how he'd promised to rip her to pieces that was probably what he'd eventually done if given the chance.

As he walked alongside the man, the young scout tried to put himself in his superior's shoes. From the captains point of view the most prominent thing about Annie was most likely the fact that she'd brought about the death of several of his comrades. Considering this, he had actually treated her surprisingly well since she had been captured.

Well, apart from the previous night. But she had called the deaths of his squad and the other scouts pointless and as a man who – as Eren had learned in his time with him – valued human lives highly, of course that had triggered his fury.

What had Annie meant anyway when she had called the scouts sacrifices? Was it even of significance or had she just said it in order to provoke? Eren guessed he'd learn the next day when he'd come to visit her again. Speaking of which…

"She said she'd tell me everything," he informed his superior as he started to climb the staircase behind him. He figured that this time he definitely needed permission to visit Annie, if he didn't want to have his neck broken for sure.

Levi stopped in his tracks and turned to face him. The young scout reacted in the blink of an eye, halting a few steps beneath him, so he actually had to look up to see the man's face. Pierced by blue eyes, Eren quickly offered more on the matter.

"Tomorrow," he specified. "She said if I come by tomorrow, she'll tell me everything."

Silence. The gaze fixing him was so intense, he almost felt himself shrinking beneath it.

"She said, you can come, too," he added more subdued.

The staring continued and he felt challenged by the older man not to blink or break eye contact first. There was no telling what Levi thought of the new information or how he would judge it. But as he looked up into those unreadable eyes, Eren considered his chances to see Annie again – no matter for what reason – to be really low.

"Can you take it?" the captain finally inquired quietly.

"Huh?" Eren blinked in confusion, because he couldn't quite follow.

The senior scout inhaled audibly which indicated that he was going to waste a few more words on him than most of the time.

"Can you take everything that she said she was going to tell you? Because "everything" can be a lot and "everything" can be cruel and we're most likely talking about the reason for the attack on mankind. And the trouble with reasons is that they might be perfectly acceptable for one, but seem horribly wrong to the other."

He paused to make sure his words were fully perceived. Eren couldn't quite shake the feeling that with the last half-sentence he and his short temper were what the man referred to in particular.

"So I'm asking you, Eren," Levi's tone was more intense than usual, his eyes were piercing the boy, "can you take it? Can you keep your cool no matter how cruel and infuriating the things you'll learn tomorrow might seem to you?"

So this was what it came down to after all.

Eren swallowed the lump the intensity of the captain's gaze and words had left in his throat. He hadn't really thought it through when Annie had offered to tell him everything, so he was caught off guard now. But he was determined to see it through and if he had to bite his tongue – well, maybe not literally or he might end up transforming into a titan. That would be more than counterproductive – or should he say inconvenient?

"Yes sir," he whispered firmly.

Levi nodded merely visible.

"Good," he concluded. "We'll arrange everything then."

With those words he turned back around and continued climbing the stairs like nothing happened, leaving a shocked Eren who had been frozen in place to hurry after him yet again. But the young scout caught up easily enough with a few quick steps. Those were the perks of having longer legs than your superior.

They let silence take over again. For now everything was said, though the boy still expected to get some kind of feedback for his unauthorised entry of Annie's cell. But it didn't seem like a worst-case-scenario was coming for him, which was a relief.

Also, Levi let him take part in a crucial interrogation of Annie despite his misbehaviour. Did that mean the man trusted in him or was it just a compromise to finally gain the long awaited information? Eren could only guess, but he tended towards the latter.

The stairs led to the entrance hall where unexpectedly a group of people was gathered. The wings of freedom on the backs of their green hoods clearly identified them as fellow scouts. The sound of Levi's and Eren's footsteps on entering the hall caught their attention and the one standing closest who was also the tallest of them turned around to face them.

It was commander Erwin.

"Ah, perfect timing," he greeted them in his usual formal voice.

"What an unexpected surprise," Levi replied as he and Eren walked over.

He sounded sarcastic again, which Eren began to wonder about. While regularly bored by the world and seeming to stand above everything, anything coming from the captain that didn't sound indifferent seemed out of character to his subordinate.

Erwin kept a straight face. The smaller man's remark seemed to neither impress him nor offend him in any way.

"Did you nearly die last night, or what's with the sarcasm?" he asked matter-of-factly.

Now Eren definitely was worried. If even the commander who had known Levi far longer picked up on his sarcasm, there had to be something to it. And what was that remark about nearly dying? How did something like that even play into it? Maybe it was some code the two men had developed between themselves.

Levi just offered a dismissive "tsk" and Erwin seemed to let it go. Instead he turned to the young scout who'd watched their exchange attentively.

"Hello Eren," he greeted. "How are you?"

"Hello," Eren replied, surprised about being addressed all of a sudden. "I'm good."

It was actually not far from the truth. He'd just failed to mention the inner turmoil from recent events and the anticipation for the next day, but that wasn't something you discussed in the middle of an entrance hall. And he wasn't sure if he even wanted to discuss it with the commander at all.

There was no rule you had to report any personal feelings or love affairs to him. At least as far as Eren knew. Before now he hadn't really concerned himself with something like that. He hadn't considered it could ever become relevant for him. But he vaguely recalled that any relationships of romantic or sexual nature – how Instructor Shadis had put it – had been strictly prohibited among trainees. Could the same rule apply to the scouts as well?

Actually Annie wasn't a scout, but a former member of the Military Police. And currently a prisoner, which made matters even worse. And Levi knew? How had Eren not ben told yet to get over her – as an order not just as a good advice?

"Good," Erwin nodded, regaining the boy's attention. "I've brought you some company."

Only now as the tall man's hand indicated the three scouts behind him who had stayed silent so far, Eren paid attention to them. In pleasant surprise he recognised Armin, Mikasa and…

"Don't ask me, what I'm doing here. I don't know either," Jean scowled at Eren who couldn't hide the dismay from his face completely as he recognised him.

However, before either of them could say another word Mikasa stepped in between them and called for Eren's attention. She took his hands in hers and asked him concernedly if he really was alright. She clearly didn't like having been separated from him yet again. Probably she still mistrusted Levi for his demeanour in the courtroom.

Eren nodded absentmindedly. His attention had shifted again to their superiors as Erwin suggested a private briefing on the current situation. Eren's heart faltered as he thought about how that meant the commander now would learn about everything with Annie and him and probably have the final say in the matter of Annie's interrogation the next day. He wasn't sure what outcome to expect.

Levi did not decline Erwin's suggestion, which seemed to be treated as an approval. The two men strode off without a further word, leaving their four subordinates to stare after them in wonder.

"Geez, what is it with these guys," Jean grumbled.

"I don't know," Armin replied thoughtfully. Probably he did some analysing, but he didn't consider it worth sharing.

"Anyway, hello Eren," he turned towards his childhood friend.

Eren who was still processing so many changes to his current situation, blinked confused. He only managed a short "hello" before Levi called for his attention from the other end of the hall once more.

"Eren, behave. Don't make me have your sorry ass report to me everywhere you go in advance."

Without even waiting for Eren's obedient "Yes sir!" the captain followed Commander Erwin out of the hall. They had left for the wing where his personal quarters and his office were located.

"What does that shorty think you are," Mikasa growled, "his dog?"

"Let it go, Mikasa," Eren begged her resigned.

There wasn't even much time for him to feel delighted about the arrival of his two childhood friends, because as he looked at their and Jean's faces he thought that he had no idea how to explain to them what had happened between him and Annie. And though he knew that conversation might not even reach the topic of her, it still left him uneasy.

"So, you want to go for lunch?" he asked, trying to hide his discomfort.

It was still a little too early for lunch, but he considered they could head there already anyway.

Armin accepted right away while Jean mumbled something like "yeah, whatever". Mikasa just silently joined them as Eren led them towards the mess hall. She was still scowling, quite possibly because of Levi. Eren suppressed a sigh. He really hoped this wasn't going to get awkward.

As they walked down the corridor, Eren feigned interest in how his comrades from training days were doing. It currently didn't concern him too much – he had other things on his mind – but it gave them something to talk about.

From Armin – who was the only one really taking part in the conversation with him – he learned that neither of those three had seen the others since their last mission. Word was they were doing formation training somewhere.

"Huh?" Eren expressed his surprise as he sat down on one of the tables in the still empty mess hall. "Why aren't you guys with them. Shouldn't you be training with them as well, then?"

"Yeah, about that…" Armin paused, piquing Eren's interest.

"I think that Commander Erwin and his most entrusted men consider at least one of our co-trainees to be Annie's spy."

Eren looked up shocked at his friend's assumption.

"What? Why? And how come they don't treat you as suspects as well?" he blurted out. "I mean, I know you'd never do that, but how would the commander know?"

"You see, Eren," Armin began and then he shared all the conclusions he had come to since the last mission.

He told his friend how Eren's position in the formation hadn't been marked in the formation plan and how diverse information about it had been given to the soldiers. He explained how Annie had approached from the right side and how all of their comrades – whose training sessions probably were just false pretence to keep them busy and unaware of Annie's capture – had been told that Eren was positioned on the right side of the formation. Then he also recalled Commander Erwin's speech the evening they had joined the Scouting Legion and how specific he had been about mentioning Eren.

"…so I think the whole mission was actually to lure out and capture an enemy," Armin concluded, not having to mention that that enemy had turned out to be Annie.

Eren was dumbstruck. He paid no attention to Mikasa sitting indifferently next to him and Jean looking bored vertically of him. If he had though he would've noticed that they didn't seem like the information was anything new to them.

"But how could Commander Erwin have known back then that someone would come after me? How could he assume it would be someone from our training squad?"

"Well, I can only guess again," Armin offered, "but I think it can be concluded from what happened at Trost."

"What do you mean?" Eren asked, holding back a comment on how not everyone was as intelligent as Armin and could conclude these things easily.

So Armin explained his thesis for him, the three stages he had derived on the basis of the attack on Shiganshina five years: The first was the destruction of the outer gate through the Colossal Titan, in the next stage the titans flooded the district, and at last the Armoured Titan destroyed the inner gate and breaching the wall.

"If you compare this with the attack on Trost about two months ago you'll realise that back then it never went beyond the second stage," he finished.

Eren felt a little dizzy from learning all this new information. Filtering through it was especially hard with everything else that had happened today already.

"So what, the Armoured Titan didn't show up, how has that anything to do with me?"

Maybe Armin was too polite to roll his eyes or it really didn't bother him that he had to explain to others some of the things that seemed so obvious to him.

"Not only did they not destroy the inner gate, they let you stopper the hole in the outer gate. They called off the attack, because they _saw you_. They must've seen you emerge from your titan form the first time and taken an interest in you."

Slowly the pieces fell into place, though Eren still couldn't quite understand how anyone could've figured this out two months ago.

"So you're saying…," he summed up to be sure he got it right, "…that the Armoured Titan and the Colossal Titan were among our training squad all the time?"

"Most likely," Armin agreed quietly.

Eren's shoulders hunched in resignation as he processed this. People he had trained with, people he possibly had talked to – gotten close to – were very likely the ones he blamed most for the horror that had happened at his home district Shiganshina.

The four young scouts sat together in gloomy silence each of them dwelling on their own thoughts. Armin, who had known it for the longest, probably just left the others some space to deal with this information. Mikasa wouldn't get thrown off by a revelation like this, she probably was still cursing Levi. And Jean – who knew, what Jean was thinking. Eren clearly didn't – but then he didn't really care. He had his own thoughts to mull over.

"I guess I know what I'm going to ask Annie tomorrow," he mumbled absentmindedly.

All three of his comrades suddenly turned to him. Their faces displayed a mixture of surprise and disbelief, as if they weren't sure they really had understood him right just now.

"What?" Jean and Armin asked almost simultaneously.

"Nothing," Eren tried to brush over it.

"I just realised that I have to help with lunch preparations in the kitchen today," he exclaimed then and got up hastily.

He left his friends without any further word alone in the mess hall and hurried to the kitchen. Technically he was still relieved from his duties.

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	8. 07: Constellations

_**Notes:**__ This chapter is dedicated unblockabletree4 whose reviews always gave me things to consider and helped me develop some ideas for this story. You asked about involving Keith Shadis, the drill instructor, once, so I tried since he fit into the chapter._

**_Extended Notes: _**leviplease,tumblr,com/post/62444629076_ (Replace the commas with dots for the link to work.) _

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**Chapter 7: Constellations**

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His taste was still on her lips and the sensation of his touch stuck with her. Annie lay on the bed with her eyes closed, holding on to the sweet moment she had spent with Eren. The memory of their lips colliding and his hands caressing her skin would never leave her. The kisses that had made her forget the pain of cut flesh and regrowing limbs were seared into her mind now.

She hadn't planned for things to turn out like this. They had gone far off the track. She didn't feel bad for caving in, though. Like she had told Eren she didn't even care anymore, not about her mission, not about her secrets. She probably could never return to her home village and that still saddened her, but she had found something here that was worth holding on to.

It still felt a little ironic to her that out of all the idiots it had to be Eren. But over the last three days she had learned that there was something to him she hadn't given him credit for until now. And now she really wanted to know him, every little detail of him, anything she had missed so far. And she wanted _him_ to know _her_.

The prospect of getting everything off her chest was just too tempting she didn't even care what would come from it. Eren's reaction was hard to guess for her. She had always thought that he wouldn't understand, even when he'd offered to try. But then she hadn't expected him to kiss her, to hold her so gently, to _care_ for her.

How much of that warm behaviour towards her would remain after he learned the truth, Annie couldn't tell. Yet she had _hope_. For the first time in her life she allowed herself that naïve emotion. And it felt strange, but also good. So even though she didn't know whether Eren would actually be able to live up to his promise to try and understand, she gave up to the feeling, not thinking about the possibility of it being crushed the next day.

It was all so unlike her, Annie knew that – oh how she knew it, better than anyone – but that was the effect Eren had on her. He drove her up the walls and into a corner and out of her mind. And then she ended up doing stupid things.

Really stupid things.

Things like provoking the captain to hurt her and sneering at him like a madwoman, because his fury gave her some kind of rush. Things like pulling Eren close and kissing him instead of pushing him away, because the rush of their lips colliding was even more electrifying. Things like deciding to completely give up on being a warrior. Because letting Eren into her life – letting him _in_ – meant surrender. And for the very first time she was actually willing to do that.

If Reiner and Berthold could see her now! They'd probably give her hell for this. Well, Reiner would. Berthold would just silently stare at her and most likely wish death on her in his mind or something like that. She had never really known what exactly to make of his intense staring. But then again it never had fazed her much.

Berthold had always been distrustful of her after all. Reiner less so, but still he had felt the need to remind her of their mission by pitting her against Eren during a training session. It was actually funny to think that this very instance was essentially what had led her here.

Hadn't Reiner put Eren in Annie's way, she would've never paid him too much attention. She probably never would've even talked to him. And she definitely wouldn't have offered to teach Eren the special moves of her father. And hadn't Reiner called off their attack on Trost, things would've gone differently. The three of them would be inside of wall Sina looking for the coordinate instead of placing their bets on a first-generation titan shifter who was by far harder to obtain – simply because he was a living, breathing thickhead and a lot heavier to carry.

She definitely wouldn't have ended up here, in this cell, as a prisoner, so close to Eren. She wouldn't even have had the chance to fall in love with him. And at this point there was no denying that she was at least in the process of it, if she wasn't head over heels in already.

Actually she felt like she couldn't fall in any deeper. It wasn't in her nature to give in to affection like that, so straying so far from being rational and pragmatic was a huge deal in her case. Throwing aside her objection like that was something that had never even occurred to her before. And now that it did it was easy – almost shockingly so.

If she thought back to when she had joined the military with Reiner and Berthold, she barely recognised herself anymore. The Annie from back then would've never done what she had done today and was still about to do tomorrow. The Annie from back then had been right not to mingle with her co-trainees. She wouldn't have been compromised like this.

_She eyed Reiner and Berthold who had dragged her behind one of the storage houses viciously. Well, Reiner had dragged her there, Berthold had just tagged along and kept his distance as usual. So she ignored the lean boy for the most part and focused on his blond friend who had his back against the wall of the storage house._

_"I thought we had agreed not to be seen together," Annie demanded, arms crossed before her chest._

_"Relax, Annie, no one's coming around here."_

_Reiner tried a smile to ease the tension between them. She nearly rolled her eyes at him. He couldn't be that daft, or was he? She really hoped not, or things might go horribly wrong. Reiner was in charge of them and usually made the calls. If he made a miscalculation or got reckless their mission was in serious danger. And if he messed this up, if their mission failed because of him she would tear out his insides – that was for sure. Annie hated failure. She couldn't even stand the _idea_ of losing._

_"How do you know? We've been here for a week now, it's not like there are any foreseeable routines yet," she pointed out. "And I for my part really don't want to get caught holding secret meetings behind a storage house. That's not what I would call keeping a low profile."_

_"Yeah right, I get it," Reiner was quick to reply, sounding a little annoyed. "Let's get straight to the point then."_

_"Make it quick," Annie replied, indicating that she was willing to listen to him._

_Reiner didn't need to be told twice._

_"Just a short recap: We're aiming for the top of the class to enlist with the Military Police directly. After our graduation as trainees we will take out Trost and Wall Rose then we'll head for Wall Sina where we'll hopefully find the coordinate," he summed up._

_"Is it really necessary to take out Wall Rose if we can get inside of Wall Sina anyway?" Berthold surprisingly objected and Annie had to agree that she had been wondering about the same thing. It sounded like unnecessary effort. She didn't like unnecessary effort. Reiner however shot him a warning glance._

_"Once we have the coordinate we have to get all the way to Wall Maria and beyond to return to our village – the less the possibility of meeting humans on our way the better. I don't want the mission to fail because we get caught while crossing the territory inside of Wall Rose," Reiner explained. Then he fixed Berthold with narrowed eyebrows. "Don't tell me you're feeling sorry for those humans."_

_"No!" Berthold held his hands up defensively. Annie could make out a drop of sweat on his temple. He was clearly uncomfortable under Reiner suspecting gaze._

_"Good," Reiner seemed willing to let it go. "We wouldn't want our mission endangered because of something like that."_

_"It means additional effort though," Annie pointed out. Her own surprise that she jumped in for Berthold was mirrored on the faces of her comrades as they turned to look at her._

_"We'll be full-fledged members of the military by then and most likely be expected to fight. That would make evacuating to Wall Sina even more difficult than when we got inside of Wall Rose two years ago," she explained herself. "Shouldn't we at least wait until we're with the Military Police inside of Wall Sina and then act?"_

_"That would all be fine if it wasn't for the bit where all three of us would have to get all the way back from Wall Sina to Wall Rose and most likely will be missed. Even if the humans don't suspect us of being responsible for the breach of Wall Rose, it would most likely get us into trouble," Reiner reminded them a little annoyed that he even had to point it out._

_"Look, I know it's not a perfect plan, but it's the best plan we have," he came around, his voice softer now, "unless you can think of something better, of course."_

_Annie just stoically stared past him and Berthold at the wooden wall of the storage house. Reiner took that as a no._

_"Good then," he concluded. "While we're stuck here on stand-by try and keep a low record. You know the drill." He counted off the things they had agreed on while they had been stuck with the refugees from Wall Maria over the last two years: avoiding to get injured, so they didn't get unwanted attention when their wounds were healing inhumanly quickly. Also, fitting in with the humans and interact with them, while still staying emotionally detached from them._

_"I told you, I'm not doing that," Annie snarled._

_Her attitude had always bothered Reiner and Berthold. While those two were close, Annie had kept her distance which had left them always a little suspicious of her. And for tonight Reiner had enough of her uncooperativeness._

_He pushed himself away from the wall and slowly rounded her. Annie stayed put, arms still crossed before her chest and not even trying to follow his movements with her eyes. Only her ears gave her an idea of where he was as his steps made crunching noises on the gravel._

_She could hear him pause behind her back. Then his hands were on her, one gripping her by her neck the other on her left hip, and he shoved her against the wall of the storage house. She barely avoided a broken nose by jerking her head to the left in the last second. Her cheek rubbed harshly against wood. She could feel the steam starting to rise from her skin as the scratches attempted to heal up._

_Of course she could've easily escaped his grip. Despite him being taller and physically stronger than her she had some moves that could send him flying on his back. But she preferred to avoid fighting him back and showing them off. He and Berthold would possibly only become even wearier of her, if they knew she outmatched them in hand-to-hand combat. She didn't want to draw any attention to herself, not even their attention._

_"I've had it with your uncooperativeness," he growled, pressing her into the wall._

_"Oi, Reiner," Berthold intervened weakly._

_Once again Annie was surprised that he even spoke up for her, but she didn't think too much of it. It was a less than half-hearted attempt and Annie didn't expect it to change the situation in any way. Yet it seemed enough for Reiner to stop and regain some composure after his outburst._

_The pressure of his hands disappeared. However, Annie stayed just how she was, the last remnants of steam rising from her healing cheek. Her breathing was accelerated and her raised pulse pumped adrenaline through her body after the inflicted violence. She wanted to focus on calming down, so she wouldn't do anything rash._

_But she didn't get the privacy. Reiner turned her around by her shoulder and shoved her backwards, so she was facing him with her back against the wall. He put his left hand against the wood beside her head, blocking her escape, and leaned in close. On her left Berthold had inched closer, watching them both carefully._

_"You know," Reiner said more calmly now, "if you could just try to be a bit more of a team player…"_

_Annie stared at him blankly._

_"I just don't see how befriending humans is necessary for the plan to succeed," she said indifferently._

_He opened his mouth to reply, but got cut off before even uttering one word._

_"Oi, what do you think you're doing!"_

_At the sound of their instructor Shadis Reiner backed away from her immediately. Annie continued looking straight ahead, watching how he nervously turned in the direction the fast approaching footsteps came from. From the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of Berthold swallowing hard to her left._

_"This isn't-," Reiner started, but Shadis didn't let him explain._

_"I don't need you to tell me what this is or isn't!" he barked, coming into Annie's view._

_As soon as he stood in front of Reiner, he gave him a taste of his already famous headbutt – he had given out quite a few in their first week as trainees already. Reiner's knees gave in a little however he managed to stay on his feet, which would make him the first of the squad. Maybe he had suspected something like this would come and was prepared for the impact._

_"I know exactly what this is. Two boys rounding up a girl alone – you perverted pigs, I will have you crawl in the dirt for this!"_

_Berthold shifted uneasily away from Annie and Reiner looked a little bewildered at the accusation. But they did not even try to clear up the misunderstanding. What would they have said anyway – "no, we were just discussing our secret mission to breach the walls together"? They were actually lucky that Shadis misinterpreted their little gathering as harassment._

_"You," Shadis pointed at Annie, "get the hell out of here!"_

_She didn't need to be told a second time, but slipped away immediately. As she turned her back on the scene and walked away, Shadis started to berate Berthold and Reiner in his usual angry tone about how the military was all about discipline and not following some animalistic instincts and how he was going to have them scrub their perverseness out of their system once and for all._

_Rounding the corner, Annie couldn't suppress a small smile. Knowing they had to endure a long tirade from Shadis now and then would be sentenced to extra work or something similar, gave her some kind of satisfaction. Of course she wouldn't tell them – they had enough trouble getting along as it was – she would just keep the memory for the next time Berthold eyed her with suspicion or Reiner felt like giving her another speech. It would make having to deal with them a little more bearable at least._

_Her thoughts were interrupted as her right shoulder collided unpleasantly with an arm. On her way to the girl barracks she must've become a little inattentive or else she would've avoided the encounter easily enough, of course. But it wasn't like she would apologise._

_"S-sorry," a male voice said._

_Annie looked up angrily at the brown haired boy who smiled apologetically. As soon as her blue eyes locked with his green ones, his smile faded and he swallowed nervously. She didn't bother much with him and simply walked off, unaware that she had just made a memorable impression on him._

The sound of a key being turned in the lock called Annie back from her memories. Shortly after, her cell door was being yanked open and she turned to see two female scouts enter the room. The shorter one with her auburn hair in a loose pony tail closed the door behind them. Meanwhile the taller one who had her blond hair cut even shorter than most boys tossed a bundle of clothes at Annie.

"Here," she said, "get changed."

Annie obeyed silently. She got up from her bed and out of her torn sweater and pants. The two young women had the decency not to stare at her directly. They could've though for all Annie cared, in the military you couldn't be shy about your body. You got changed and had showers with everyone else. There was little privacy – apart from the separations of males and females of course.

The new set of clothes was a bit too big for her, but they fit well enough. The white pants were a little worn out, but still of a decent quality and the grey shirt fell loosely around her torso. Its sleeves covered her hands halfway as they were notably longer than her arms. She couldn't shake off the feeling that they were male clothes, but it didn't bother her too much. They were clean and she figured that was all she could ask for. Appearance had never been a big issue for her anyway.

When she was done changing and the blond scout had taken her old clothes off her – probably to throw them away – Annie was ordered to lie down on her bed again. She did as she was told without objection and also offered her hands as asked. They pushed her sleeves up her arms and reattached the shackles to her wrists. Then they left her alone with her thoughts again.

As she held up her hand and watched the chain dangling from her wrists her mind drifted back to her home, to her mission, to the boys Reiner and Berthold that had been told they could rely on her, but never really got themselves to trust her. And they had been right not to. Tomorrow she would sell them out.

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	9. 08: Strategic Means

_**Notes: **__This story now comes with a suggestion for anime-only-viewers to have a look at the manga chapters 17 and 31 to 34 (at least the first few pages of that last chapter), so we're on the same ground for this story. (The anime adaption doesn't really suit my interpretation of the characters and their interactions, you know. (Yes, I was disappointed with the season final as a reader and lover of the manga.))_

_And to those who left reviews on this story before the major editing: I'm a little cross with this site for not letting you comment the recent chapters, because technically you already reviewed them, but with the next update you will be able to review again as everyone else. Thank you to those who sent me their feedback via PM - it means a lot. (You can do that for this chapter as well, if you want. Just so you know. *wink* )_

**_Extended Notes: _**leviplease,tumblr,com/post/63091153926_ (You know the drill, replace commas with dots to make the link work.)_

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**Chapter 8: Strategic Means**

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They walked in silence. There was no need to talk before they reached Levi's office where they could discuss things in private. And honestly, Levi wasn't all too keen on giving his report. Knowing Erwin, he would have to go into full detail on the recent events – and he especially wasn't looking forward to talking about last night.

As he held stride with the taller man beside him, Levi feigned interest in the view out of the windows they were passing. It was an act that Erwin must've gotten bored of by now. It was an automatism that Levi barely even thought about anymore after entertaining it for roughly twenty years. Being bored by what was directly in front of him, always acting like there was a better way to spend his time, like he didn't care, was one of his coping mechanisms.

He didn't even have to pretend that a thought didn't occur to him right away, because he was too busy not caring, by now that was just how it happened. Lena had already passed them when he stopped and called her back.

As the blond scout turned, Levi simply asked her to tag along. Neither she nor Erwin questioned his intentions when they continued down the hallway together. Lena respectfully kept her distance as she followed the two men that were her superiors.

Erwin still didn't scrutinise his motives when the captain indicated the door to his office and told him he'd be right with him. He simply went on ahead into the room as suggested while Levi took Lena a few doors further where he currently spent his nights.

The scout stood in the bedroom and actively did not watch as her superior filed through the clothes in his wardrobe. Neither did she let her gaze wander through the neat room or ask what she was here for. Levi recognised the silence of someone who knew the truth of this world: people are cruel and the less you show of yourself the less they can hurt you. She probably had a story of her own to tell on the matter that he would never ask her about.

After not too long Levi pulled out a pair of pants he had worn too often for his taste and would replace soon anyway despite them still being acceptable. He added a grey, long-sleeved shirt he only randomly put on when he was on leave and stayed inside. He could as well do without it, he figured.

Levi turned back to Lena and presented her with the neatly folded clothes.

"Take these to Annie Leonhard for her to change," he instructed. "You can probably throw away the ones she's wearing now."

Lena knew, of course. She had been on duty during the night and had been left with the unpleasant task of cleaning up the mess. While her co-guard had flinched when looking at the blood and the severed limbs, she had kept a straight face, stoically doing as she was told.

"And then tie her back up," he added without further explanation.

She confirmed the order and left to execute it right away.

In a way Levi welcomed it was her that crossed his way, because she didn't seem like the type to care about where Annie Leonhard's new clothes came from. But honestly he didn't bother whether word made round that he donated textiles for a prisoner. Even for a girl Annie was pretty small, so getting something elsewhere for her to wear would've been a hassle and he really wasn't up for investing so much effort into that. And prisoner or not, it didn't sit right with him to leave the girl wearing rags.

He closed the wardrobe and strode out of the room to meet Erwin in his office for their briefing. The man stood by the window, taking a look at the landscape. There was a faint wrinkle on his usually plain forehead, a shadow of troubling thoughts that probably clouded his view. But when he turned on the sound of the closing door every trace of it had left his features.

Levi slumped onto the couch, crossing his legs and resting his right arm on the back of the piece of furniture as he liked to do. He didn't bother to offer Erwin a seat – the commander shouldn't need an invitation to get comfortable. Neither did he apologise for leaving him to wait while instructing Lena.

Erwin pulled over one of the chairs from the office table and sank onto it elegantly. Even in private – and that was what a meeting of the two men was by now – he didn't relax much. Leaning forward he rested his forearms on his knees, but his back remained straight. Levi almost rolled his eyes at the man's inability to loosen up. But he knew him long and well enough to understand that it was just how he was.

Actually they were similar in that manner: they both had a way of keeping their composure and not letting emotions show. With Erwin it affected his whole body more than it affected his face: the taller man could show a smile once in a while, but usually was stiff as a piece of wood. Levi – while paying less attention to his posture – had long ago trained his face in staying impassive like it was set in stone.

"So," Erwin inquired, getting down to business right away, "any achievements or breakthroughs in the interrogation of Annie Leonhard?"

Levi decided to begin with the outcome rather than summing up the turmoil of the last two or three days. He hated when someone held back essential information when being asked, so he didn't intend to do that himself.

"She's going to talk," he stated simply. Going into the details would be more complicated.

The news surprised Erwin. He straightened his shoulders even more – Levi wasn't entirely sure how that was even possible – and his face indicated he was paying full attention. From now on he would register every word, analysing every little detail of the information he was about to receive. Levi didn't bother too much with guessing what was going on in that brilliant mind of his commander, but after about five years with the man he hadn't failed to notice certain habits and mechanisms.

"What, just like that?" Erwin inquired, only letting on a hint of surprise.

"Ha!" Levi laughed dryly. It had hardly happened "just like that" and inducting the commander into the particulars should be fun. He wasn't keen on it at all.

"You read my reports?" he asked Erwin as a peg.

"About the interrogation of Annie Leonhard and your surprising reluctance to use violence – yes, I have."

Levi shot him a sharp look. Was that bastard telling him he was going soft? Well, sooner or later something like that had to come, after he'd only reluctantly agreed to give Eren a beating during the trial. It had cost him some effort to come to terms with Erwin's strategy to get Eren for the Scouts. When he had joined the military he had thought he'd never have to randomly use violence against someone ever again. He was with the Scouting Legion after all and not with the Military Police.

And though it was up for debate how human a titan shifter could be considered to be, the ones they had encountered so far were still just kids in a way. Kids who'd seen a lot and could do horrible things for sure, but still they were kids. Hurting them left a bad taste in his mouth – even if it was Annie Leonhard who had squashed his entire squad and who knows how many others. He still had qualms when thinking about the last night – not that he would share that with anyone.

"And the ones about Eren?" he picked up the conversation.

"I've skimmed through those," Erwin admitted. "He showed a lot of interest in Annie Leonhard's condition, didn't he?"

Levi nodded curtly.

"Two nights ago he asked to see her. And I decided to comply with his request."

Erwin was silent, awaiting further details. So Levi summed the events up as best as he could, without leaving out important details. His tone was impassive, even as he went on about Annie's teasing words and his drastic reaction. All the while Erwin listened patiently and gave no indication of wanting to interrupt. However Levi himself broke off after describing the mutilation. He needed a moment to keep his composure.

"And that's when she said she would talk?" Erwin offered to help him over the sudden stop in his report.

Levi sighed. They'd seen too much of each other by now for him to care about letting his impassive mask slip a little. The man had already picked up on it anyway. Apart from Erwin no one knew that looking death in the eye brought forth Levi's sarcasm. Apart from Erwin no one had ever seen him after barely getting away with his life.

"No," he admitted. "Eren forced his way into her cell this morning and I don't know what happened in there but when he came out he told me she wanted to tell him everything."

Erwin stayed motionless. There was no way of telling what went through his head, what he thought of the information he had just received. As always he just catalogued it in that brilliant mind of his where he judged it, but never shared anything of it with others. And usually it didn't bother Levi, but now he wished the man would give up something of it.

"So, Eren – do you think he's up for it?"

Erwin decided to hear Levi's opinion first before sharing his own. Probably he held back his final judgment until he had learned enough to help him see it from as many angles as possible. That was how he always went about things. Levi on the other hand had already made his decision.

"He wouldn't be alone," the small man offered. "I would be with him the whole time, but the questioning would be left to him – those seem to be the conditions on which she will talk."

They shared an intense look in silence.

"You already agreed to let him do it." It was a simple statement. And as always Erwin's tone was objective. There was no telling what he thought of it.

"You left me in full charge of the interrogation," Levi reminded him. "And I hadn't expected you to show up here any time soon."

Of course Erwin didn't have to be told. He knew for himself and he hadn't criticised Levi's decision.

"It's a big risk," he noted however. "Eren's hot temper might be less favourable for us this time. If he loses control – and it's quite possible that he will, considering the circumstances – there's a high possibility we might not even get to some of the very essential parts of information."

Naturally it was something to be concerned with. Levi had considered it himself. But this might be their best, if not only shot.

"Didn't you yourself conclude after the last mission that we would have to take big risks to outmatch our enemy?" he reminded the commander.

Erwin nodded in agreement.

"It's true, we might never get a chance like this," he offered.

They let silence build up. Each of them considered their options once again. Levi didn't like spending so much thought on a decision. The more time he wasted thinking over something, the more his mind ruled out his intuition. And he liked to rely on his intuition. It usually led him to make good calls. On the battlefield when making decisions and giving orders had to happen in a matter of seconds – that was when his experience and his intuition worked best together.

Finally Erwin broke their quiet musings.

"Do you trust Eren?"

A dry laugh escaped Levi's lips.

"He's a hormonal fifteen-year-old that has fallen for the enemy – even if I wanted to, I wouldn't trust him with my life right now."

He didn't use the term "in love". He still wasn't entirely sure just how serious it was. Call it giving Eren the benefit of the doubt or something. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. Because even though those feelings currently seemed to work in their favour – in the long run they'd spell big trouble, he could tell.

"But if we're talking about whether I trust Eren to pull through with the interrogation," he added, "then yes, yes I do. I think he's really serious about this. He really wants to know and that can work to our benefit."

Again Erwin nodded.

"I trust your judgement, Levi," he offered. "But we're going to see this through till the end."

There was a pause in which Levi could anticipate what would come next. And he made a good guess.

"If something goes wrong," Erwin continued in his formal tone, "if for some reason she stops talking before telling us all we need to know, we're not going to leave it at that."

Levi almost grimaced. He knew exactly what Erwin was implying and he didn't like it – especially not the idea that Eren would be present.

"You'll have to prepare Eren for the worst case scenario," the commander suggested. Well, actually it was more of an order.

With his left hand Levi pushed back his bangs. It was rare for him to do so. They were cut just short enough to not bother his vision much and he had gotten used to the tickling feel of them shifting over his forehead long ago. So the motion happened out of discomfort, to give himself a moment before replying.

"I'm sure he's going to be delighted by the thought of me mutilating his girlfriend again," he remarked sarcastically.

Erwin's eyebrows inched up only a little.

"He knows about that?"

"Yeah," Levi growled darkly, leaning back his head onto the cushion of the backrest.

"I'm surprised he didn't jump at my throat when I told him this morning. And actually I feel like I would've deserved it at least a little," he added in a quiet confession.

Erwin took an audible deep breath and shifted on his chair a little. Levi could hear the rustling of clothes and the creaking of the chair while he stared at the ceiling.

"Okay," he could make out the slight change in his tone as the commander spoke now, "what happened?"

Levi kept silent, as if he didn't know what Erwin meant. It would need more than that simple question to make him talk about it. Of course Erwin knew and he gave a sigh. This was the most open they had been with each other in a while. Usually they showed less emotion even in their private talks.

"If Eren didn't jump at your throat, then who did? Ever since I've arrived you've been throwing in these random sarcastic remarks – and you haven't acted like that since I nearly cut you up during one of our first encounters."

The smile Levi showed at the mention of that very incident was distorted. It only flashed over his face for a short moment and was hard to catch from Erwin's angle.

"I let my guard down," Levi admitted reluctantly. His tone was grim.

A pause occurred in which Erwin only blinked dully. Levi couldn't see it, but the man's silence was enough to cause a reaction. His head snapped back up and he gave Erwin a sideways glance to see if there was a hint of his thoughts on the straight face. Of course there wasn't.

"I stayed in the cell to wait for her limbs to regrow" – he avoided saying her name, but he didn't have to – "and she got me. I let my guard down and she got me."

Levi had raised his voice a little during that confession. His tone was defensive, angry. This was something he couldn't stay impassive about – at least not with Erwin who knew him so well by now. And it irked him to show so much emotion, but somehow he also didn't care.

The corners of Erwin's mouth twitched up into one of his rare smiles. When he spoke he sounded smooth and reassuring.

"But you're still here none the less."

Another dry laugh from Levi.

"Yeah, because I brought up Eren. And to my luck she seems to be at least half as smitten with him as he is with her."

"That's probably why she's going to talk,' Erwin concluded to which the dark-haired man just replied with an undefined "mh".

They let silence take over once more while Levi slipped back into the suit of his impassiveness. Then he got up calmly as if the last part of the previous exchange had never happened.

"I'm going to look for Eren and bring him the news," he said indifferently as ever.

"Good," the commander noted, rising to his feet as well. "I will pay our prisoner a short visit – making sure she won't mind that I join in tomorrow as well."

The captain left it without comment. It only suited him that the tall man would be present during the interrogation of Annie Leonhard the next day. That meant he wouldn't have to report everything before they could discuss how to proceed after regaining what hopefully would be valuable information to them.

Thus they parted, arranging for another meeting in the evening. They wanted to discuss some possible strategies for the next day, so they could act right away in the case that Annie would do what they were betting on and give away her accomplices. The suspected recruits were being kept busy with formation training, but they must be getting suspicious by now.

Levi headed towards the kitchen where Eren should be helping to wash up after lunch only to remember that he had given the boy off from his duties today. To his own luck he found him in a corridor before he could wonder where to look for him instead: Eren hung around aimlessly at one of the lined-up windows.

Crossing his arms Levi approached him.

"Trouble in paradise?" he noted in an almost bored tone.

The look Eren shot him was sharp, before the young scout realised who stood before him. Immediately his eyes darted away again to avoid the stare of his superior. The corner of Levi's mouth twitched a little as he leaned against the cold stone. Eren's behaviour was almost endearing.

"Go ahead, roll your eyes at me," Levi offered, causing the teen to give him a startled look.

Eren's eyes scanned his face intently as if he was looking for something. Levi wondered how the kid even put up with him. Especially today he was horrible to bear. So he decided to cut to the chase.

"I talked to Erwin and he agreed to let you handle the interrogation tomorrow," he let him know, "but we're going to both sit in on it."

Eren nodded in reply. Now came the hard part. Levi inhaled audibly.

"Listen, Eren, tomorrow it's all or nothing." His tone was quiet and emphatic. "So either she's going to tell us everything we want to know, or we're going to make her. You got that?"

Eren stared darkly. Levi hadn't expected anything else and it bugged him. The kid had gone through a lot already and he didn't want him to hurt more. For fucks sake, he'd developed a weak spot for Eren Jaeger and a weakness was the last thing he needed now.

But this was important, he couldn't go soft now – or at least he couldn't show it. He was a natural at coming off cold and impassive, he just had to play it up to being a heartless bastard.

"So, if your girlfriend doesn't behave-"

"She's not my girlfriend," Eren growled and Levi had to give him credit for talking back.

But of course he didn't let it on. He brushed over it, continuing the act.

"_If_ she doesn't behave," he repeated, "just know that neither will I."

Eren's eyes bored further into his. In another situation Levi might've secretly welcomed the boy's stubbornness showing towards him – it was a significant part of his personality after all and its lack in their interaction had bothered Levi a little, though it was a hard trait to deal with. But now it was most unwelcome as it made things more difficult than they already were.

It was so very telling though. It showed how deep in Eren already was and how far he was willing to go for Annie Leonhard. And that spelled the real trouble. Levi would have to deal with that soon or everything might just go to hell. But he had scheduled that for after the questioning rendezvous.

"What the heck is up with you, Captain?" the young scout asked, much to Levi's surprise.

The feeling stayed hidden behind his mask. He just blinked impassively, keeping his straight face.

"You don't act like yourself," Eren added.

Levi felt caught, but he was good at playing it off. Hiding the truth behind a joke worked very well to prevent people from fully grasping it, as he knew. He usually didn't use that strategy though.

"Maybe I'm in shock after your girlfriend nearly choked me to death last night," he offered mockingly, as if it was nothing, as if he wasn't presenting a more vulnerable side of himself.

This time Eren did not pick up on the "girlfriend" term.

"Was that before or after you cut off her limbs?" he asked challengingly.

Wow, that kid learned fast, Levi noted. This was almost beginning to entertain him. He allowed himself a dark chuckle.

"After."

The word hung between them as they just stared at each other.

"I won't let you hurt her again," Eren finally growled.

Levi raised an eyebrow. The kid had made yet another daring move against him. Though he secretly took forbidden delight in the fact, he also made a side note to sort the young scout out as soon as the interrogation was done the next day.

"Then make sure that I get no reason to do so." He'd leaned in a little to better aim his intense glare at his opposite's eyes. "Because if you get in my way I will cut you first."

The threat was clear in his dark tone.

"Think about it Eren," he added, back to his normal voice and previous posture. "You'll have to pick a side."

With that he turned around to let Eren brood on his words. As he walked away he remembered to call over his shoulder:

"Come to the entrance hall right after breakfast tomorrow. We're going to the dungeon together."

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	10. 09: Speaking from the Heart

_**Notes:**__ Early update because of chapter 50! Deus Orion asked me for a chapter in Mikasa's POV and this how it turned out. (I was close to tears while writing and editing it.)_

_**Extended Notes:**_ leviplease,tumblr;com/post/63290937482_ (Replace commas with dots for the link to work.)_

_**Editing Support:**__ Alicia (Arkevil) - thank you, dear!_

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**Chapter 9: Speaking from the Heart**

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Something about Eren was off. Ever since Armin had shared his theory on the Colossal Titan and the Armoured Titan being someone from their training squad Mikasa had noticed how Eren had become strangely silent and absentminded. It was unusual, she thought. She had expected his anger to boil up, but he had barely reacted. Instead he had mumbled something about asking Annie and then he had run off to help in the kitchen.

During lunch he had been just as quiet and normally it wouldn't have bothered Mikasa – because Eren wasn't regularly engaging in conversation – but in the context it just wasn't _right_. What the hell was going on? What had happened in the time they had been separated? Did it have something to do with Annie? Mikasa remembered how reluctant Eren had been to fight Annie in the Stohess District and how she had suspected that he had developed feelings for her. But he had looked genuinely shocked by her suggestion, so that couldn't be it, right?

_Mikasa made her way through the scurrying scouts to get through to Eren. The adrenaline from fighting Annie was still burning in her system and the cold sweat from discovering the huge living titan inside of Wall Sina made her clothes stick to her skin. But she didn't care about all that. Her focus was on Eren in the middle of all this chaos, standing there just staring into the distance._

_"Eren!" she called out._

_Finally she reached him and rested her hand on his shoulder._

_"Eren, are you alright?" she asked, voice more softly now._

_Snapping out of his trance Eren turned towards her, looking bewildered by her appearance._

_"Yeah, I just-" he mumbled confused. "I'm just exhausted."_

_Mikasa hadn't expected any less, fighting Annie in his titan form was bound to take a toll on him. But there was something else – something in his expression, his eyes – which she couldn't quite pinpoint. He just looked so _crushed_ as if he had been the one to fall from the wall._

_But there was another time for finding out what that was, she decided. She could ask him about it later. Now she had to take care of him first. His feet were already beginning to give in._

_Her right arm slid beneath his shoulders to support him. He did not protest, resting his left arm around her neck to steady himself further. The transformation and the fight sure had worn him out. He shouldn't even be on his feet in the first place._

_"It's alright," Mikasa whispered soothingly. "Everything's going to be fine."_

_She had no idea why she was saying that, but the words had effect on Eren. His tense body relaxed against her and the softening of his features as he closed his eyes was a relief. Exhaustion took him in a heartbeat. While his head leaned against hers, Mikasa motioned for someone to help her take care of him._

That damned Annie! Whatever had bugged Eren back then had something to do with her, Mikasa was sure. She just wished she had gotten the chance to ask him about it. But she was set on doing so now – as soon as she found Eren that was.

Right after finishing his meal Eren had run off to the kitchen again. And despite Armin's objection, Mikasa hadn't been able to stay put for long. She needed to talk to Eren. She needed to find out what was wrong. Armin had suggested leaving him alone for now and letting him open up on his own terms, but she couldn't. Carla had made her promise to look after Eren and that's what she intended to do. Because the problem with Eren and his stubbornness was that it usually was too late before he even thought of opening up.

However she had no idea where the kitchen was or if Eren even had gone there like he had claimed to do. So Mikasa had wandered the corridors for several minutes now in hope of finding him or at least someone who could give her a hint on where to look. But she had to admit her effort was pretty futile.

She was about to give up, when she took another turn and finally saw Eren. He leaned with is back against the wall between two windows. His eyes were closed and his expression was resigned. Never had she seen him so… _weak_ before. Yes, she had seen him cry, but his tears usually were accompanied by anger and his will to fight. But now he looked so tired and overwhelmed, not even his exhausted look after fighting Annie in the Stohess District compared to it. It was disquieting.

Mikasa paused. She didn't quite know how to approach him, let alone talk to him. It felt like she was looking at a stranger. This wasn't the Eren she knew, the Eren she grew up with, the Eren that had fuelled her will to fight, the Eren that had saved her life. Because the Eren she knew never gave up, he never backed down. The Eren she knew didn't forfeit when pushed to the ground, he always picked himself up right away, pushing himself further.

Taking up all her courage with a deep breath she walked over to Eren and positioned herself at the wall beside him. He showed no sign of noticing her presence.

"Hey," she tried softly.

It was a careful approach. She didn't want to rush into things straight away. First she had to see how he'd react to her appearance. Eren could be hard to reason with and she had no feel for how difficult talking to him would be now.

Eren opened his eyes. He registered her only with a short side-glance before looking straight ahead.

"Hey," he sighed in response.

He even sounded tired! It was like another punch into her gut where the sight of Eren just had hit her moments before. Mikasa crossed her arms before her chest, focussing on the movement to keep herself busy. Her eyes met the opposite wall a few inches away from where his gaze aimed. Thus they leaned side by side against the cold stone.

"What's the matter with you, Eren?" she tried after a moment.

His reply was a faint moan. He really didn't want to talk about this, she understood that, but it also confirmed her assumption: Something was going on and she was determined to get to its core. She couldn't back down now.

"Were you avoiding me?"

In her mind it wasn't a question. She knew it as a matter of fact. But she had decided to tread carefully and it was important she chose her words and phrases with good thought. Anything that could be taken as an accusation had to be avoided.

Eren gave a sigh and tried for an answer.

"Mikasa, I-"

She didn't want to hear it if it was a half-hearted attempt of an explanation. Her voice firmer she cut him off with her next question.

"Does it have something to do with Annie?"

As Mikasa looked sideways she found him staring at her. A mixture of surprise and shock was in his eyes and his mouth gaped open in a reply he couldn't form.

Her stomach tightened. She had gone there and now there was no taking it back. If he got mad at her now, she might never get another chance to discuss this with him. So she remained stoical and hoped for the best as she bore into his eyes with her own.

Eren broke away and let his gaze aimlessly wander over the stones ahead of them. Still so resigned, Mikasa thought and she honestly couldn't decide what to think of it. It was beneficial for her, because it improved her chances to see their talk through without him cutting her off. But it was so unlike him not to talk back to her and it set her even more on edge.

"I know you don't like her…," he began, but his voice trailed off.

They both didn't really know how to discuss this. But they knew that they had to talk about it now that it was on the table. Mikasa tried to stay diplomatic for as long as she could.

"Do _you_ like her?" she inquired silently.

They had resumed to looking at the wall ahead of them. It seemed better like this, the words came easier.

"Yes," Eren finally whispered.

It stung to have her suspicions confirmed. Mikasa inhaled deeply while she considered how to proceed now. A part of her wanted to smack him in the hope that he would return to his senses. But she knew that wouldn't do the job. She had to use words and she had to use them carefully to remind him of what Annie was, of what she'd done.

"Eren," she paused, making her final decision on what to say now. "She's the enemy."

"I know," he growled weakly.

"She killed people in cold blood..."

"I know!" His voice was firmer now, angrier. "I know what she did. And I know I should forget about her, but I can't."

He hesitated before continuing and she knew that what was about to follow was nothing good.

"I don't want to," Eren admitted more softly.

Mikasa closed her eyes. She actually had to force back the pool of tears that threatened to well up. She didn't want to hear this. She _wasn't ready_ to hear this. She had engaged this conversation without really considering what she might learn and now she just wanted Eren to shut up. But he had started to open up and his mouth didn't run dry of words. They kept coming, rushing over her and suffocating her with their meaning.

"We kissed," he whispered. "And it felt so _good_. I thought I'd never want to do anything else again. I didn't want to _think_ of anything else."

Her eyes became wetter behind her closed lids, but her throat felt dryer with every word he said. She swallowed hard, but it made the lump building in her throat just tense up painfully. And then he said the words that hurt the most.

"I love her."

It was just a whisper but it hit Mikasa right in the chest. She felt like she couldn't breathe because everything in there was being compressed: her lungs, her heart. Her fists clenched around nothing, but she needed the feeling of holding on to something. She didn't know what else to do.

"I know I shouldn't," Eren continued, taking advantage of her speechlessness. "I know I should pick a side – actually there shouldn't even be a question about what side I'm on, because things should be simple. But they aren't. I hate the titans, I hate those that breached the walls, but I also love Annie and I'm hoping… Even though I know it's impossible, I'm hoping that there's a way I can be with her."

His voice had tensed more with every sentence. Mikasa could hear the emotions vibrate in it: desperation, anger, bitterness. She was sure that wasn't how you were supposed to talk about love. But then she had also thought that you couldn't love someone who treated and killed people like they were insects – that Eren couldn't love someone like Annie.

The silence embracing them was suffocating. Eren had shared all he had wanted to say and even more than enough, if you asked Mikasa. She stayed immobile, fists clenched, finding support from the cold stone pressing against her back. The threat of tears breaking from behind her closed lids had dwindled, but she did not dare to open her eyes. She only focussed on breathing.

"Please, say something," Eren finally begged, his voice weak and a little strained.

"What do you want me to say?" she inquired, her eyes blinking open. Somehow she managed to sound neutral, keeping her tone even lower than his.

Her gaze remained on the wall ahead. She heard him sigh beside her.

"I don't know," he admitted in defeat.

There was less tension in the air as silence stretched out between them once more. Mikasa welcomed it. She needed time to think, figure out how to proceed from now on. Though she had suspected it the shock from Eren's revelation still sat in her gut. She couldn't help but feel that her idiot foster brother had lost his mind somewhere along the way and it was now on her to help him get it back. But how did she implement that if he probably would claim to be perfectly sane?

She didn't like to think of Eren like that. It meant treating him like a child despite them being the same age. But this was worse than anything Eren had ever gotten himself into. Five years ago when he had been set on joining the Scouting Legion to see the outside world was nothing compared to this.

Back then she had wanted to talk him out of it, but he hadn't listened and she hadn't been good with words anyway. So she had told his parents about it. She had known that it wasn't a nice move, because Eren had entrusted his plans with her like a secret, but it had been the only option she'd been able to think of.

Ever since Eren had saved her life she had been set on keeping him out of harm's way. That had proved to be really difficult, because he was a hothead who rushed into things with no consideration of getting hurt. So she had seen it as her duty to have his back and pick him up whenever he got smashed down.

And now it was just them. Carla had been killed and Grisha had disappeared. Apart from Armin and Eren, there was no one left for her. Mikasa would be damned if she let anything happen to them. She wouldn't sit back and watch Eren get hurt in a messy love affair with Annie – because that only could end in tears and blood!

"Are you mad at me?"

The soft whisper of Eren's voice drew her back from her thoughts. Mikasa sighed barely audible.

"I'm not mad," she then stated truthfully.

Taking a moment she considered how to phrase her words.

"I just don't think I can understand," she finally added.

Eren gave a short and dry laugh.

"Believe me – I don't quite understand it myself."

Mikasa clenched her jaw. She wished Armin was here. He was good with words. He could reason with Eren, make him see how there would come nothing good from this. And he could make sure that Eren listened and actually understood.

"Remember when you swore to kill all titans?" she remarked half-heartedly.

"Remember when I _turned _into a titan?"

Eren sounded almost amused. But his tone was clearly serious as he continued.

"That's what I meant: Things aren't simple as that. No matter how much we want to be able to distinguish between right and wrong, the lines are blurred which makes it hard to tell one from the other. I've come to understand that now."

"Are you telling me that I'm mistaken in thinking that it's wrong?" Mikasa wanted to know. The bitterness she felt only barely touched her voice.

"How can it be wrong to love someone?" Eren asked softly in return.

If it was even possible, Mikasa clenched her fists harder than before. She was really fighting the urge to punch him now. It was just so frustrating, because everything in her head screamed at her that it was wrong. Common sense told her that it was wrong. Why couldn't Eren see that?

"How _can_ you love someone like that though?" she burst out, losing the composure she had fought so hard to keep. "I don't get it!" Her voice became weaker. "I really don't get it."

That was all she managed before she was spent. The confusion and frustration she felt in this situation was just so numbing.

Despite her harsh words, Eren remained surprisingly calm. He seemed to choose his words carefully as he spoke, almost like a diplomat. It made Mikasa wonder when he had learned that.

"If someone asked you why you cared for me and stuck with me despite being an unreliable titan shifter that is always in danger of losing control and actually almost hurt you when I did last time-"

"You're not _that_ unreliable," she interrupted him.

She didn't want to hear the point he was trying to make. She didn't want him to compare her feelings for him with his feelings for Annie. Those were completely different circumstances. Those were completely different things.

"_If_ someone asked you that," Eren continued, "what would you say?"

Finally Mikasa turned to face him and found him already looking at her intently. She stared back into his calm, green eyes, but when she spoke she looked away again.

"You saved my life."

It was a stubborn reply, she knew that. And there was far more to be said than that, but she didn't want to go into detail. Not now, not while they were having _this_ conversation.

"That's it?" Eren asked, but he didn't sound offended like his words might imply. "You see, technically speaking you probably did more than enough to repay me for that, so there's no need for you to hold on."

"Are you saying I should stop caring about you?" she asked bitterly.

It hurt to think that he would suggest that. He had always shoved away her helping hand and resisted when she had shown her care for him, but never had he told her off like this.

"No, that's not what I mean," Eren objected quietly. "What I'm trying to say is that these things are not rational and often hard to explain."

His hand found hers and he entangled their fingers. The pressure as he squeezed slightly was comforting and the words he spoke next were reassuring.

"You're my family, Mikasa," he whispered, "my _only_ family."

Mikasa shut her eyes with a deep breath. The tension in her limbs eased up. Without thinking about being rejected she turned over and leaned into him. She let go of his hand only to wrap both her arms around his back as she rested her head on his shoulder. Eren mirrored her and pulled her in close. They had never hugged like this, but it felt good for once not to be pushed away by him. Mikasa held onto him for dear life, scared that he could slip away from her.

Eren's mouth was close to her ear. She could hear him breathe into her hair as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"You can't save me from this." His voice was a soft whisper. "I don't want to be saved."

That was too much for her. Mikasa buried her face into his neck and started to sob. As desperation rocked her body, Eren's hands rubbed her back soothingly. Even with the motion he closely held her to his chest and she gripped his shirt tightly, because holding on to him didn't seem enough.

The kiss he placed on the brim of her ear was subtle. She didn't know when Eren had even started to consider showing this kind of affection to others, but right now she was too upset to wonder about it. The gesture was accompanied by two words that first weighed heavy on her heart, but then strangely eased the pain.

"I'm sorry."

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	11. 10: The Ugly Truth

_**Notes:**__ Time for some long awaited revelations. Also letting you know that I've started a shorter Annie/Eren fic called "Schatten von Träumen - Shadows of Dreams". It's bilingual (no shit!), so you can either read it in German or English. It's simpler and more romantic (I guess), but also a bit weird. You should totally check it out! (Shameless self-promotion, because I can.)  
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_**Extended Notes:**_ leviplease,tumblr;com/post/63829365144 _(Replace commas with dots for the link to work.)_

_**Editing Support:**__ Alicia (Arkevil) - thank you again!_

_**Fic Suggestions:**__ In case you haven't read them yet, here are some EreAni fics I'm enjoying and would recommend.  
"Let it Burn" by _Arkevil_, "Shingeki No Kyojin: Dissonance" by _PrimaMalum_, and definitely check out _Euregatto_, because she has quite some well written Shingeki no Kyojin fics, I can't even keep up with them. (Not all of them are EreAni centred, but she's a fantastic writer, so who cares about ships.) _

_**Edit:** At John's (PrimaMalum) suggestion I added a little more explanation on one aspect.  
_

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**Chapter 10: The Ugly Truth**

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"Eat!"

Since their conversation the previous day Mikasa seemed more persistent than ever in her care for Eren. Her voice was commanding and her eyes told him that she would feed him with her own hands if he didn't obey.

Eren let her do it without complaint. He had given her quite a shock when telling her about his feelings for Annie and though she had come to accept that there was nothing she could do in that matter, she seemed to be set on looking after him in every possible way she still could. Most likely it was a way of compensation, because he had made it clear that she couldn't save him from his feelings for Annie and whatever they might result in.

So Eren obeyed and took another bite of bread though he really wasn't in the mood for eating. His stomach felt like it was twisted and not particularly happy to be fed – most likely a result of his nerves being on edge.

Today was the day: the moment of truth.

Eren really didn't want to waste time with breakfast. He just wanted to get down into the dungeons and talk to Annie. The prospect of learning everything – where she had come from and what she had come for – had kept him up most of the night in tense anticipation.

Mikasa knew what lay ahead and so did Armin and Jean. The previous afternoon Eren had taken up his courage and told them about Annie's interrogation he was allowed to lead today. After his honest talk with Mikasa it seemed a lot easier to do.

He also had told them of what Levi had said. They had avoided the matter of how much Eren cared for Annie – Armin had been decent enough not to ask and surprisingly the same applied for Jean. Mikasa had already agreed beforehand not to press the matter much – especially not in the presence of others. It was bad enough that Levi and now even Erwin knew of it, Eren really didn't want it to be spread any further.

So the four of them had discussed how Eren should proceed best. Well, Armin and Jean had with Mikasa occasionally throwing in a comment. Eren had let them confer and only joined the conversation when being asked something.

Armin had suggested to let Annie just start talking. She had offered to give up the information after all, so it would be best to let her share what she was definitely willing to give up and only follow up with a question to lead her narration into the right direction when necessary. Jean had listed things Eren should definitely ask her, because they were of crucial significance. Thus they concluded Annie should give all the needed information without having to be tortured.

"Just, don't be an ass!" Jean had suggested. "If you piss her off that will hardly help her talking."

Eren had growled that he knew that and he'd be just fine. But if he was honest that was something he worried about. One harmonious moment spent with Annie didn't mean he was on the save side. Conflict could still come up easily. They had always clashed together with their bodies and their words. Annie hadn't needed Eren to hold back so he hadn't even tried. That hadn't always been the best way to get what he wanted – though in their training time Eren hadn't wanted anything particular from her. He just had sucked up anything Annie had taught him as best as he could.

The interrogation was something entirely different. After almost a month of standstill the Scouting Legion would be able to make their next move – if they gained the necessary information that is. Eren couldn't fuck this up! He had to be diplomatic, stay in control of his emotions, no matter what Annie might throw at him. And that was something he was still in the process of learning.

Somehow Eren managed to force down his breakfast under Mikasa's watchful eyes. He parted in silence from her, Armin and Jean, grimacing as Jean called "We're counting on you, Eren!" after him. As if the task ahead didn't weigh heavily enough on his shoulders.

When he reached the entrance hall his superiors already awaited him. Eren didn't remember seeing either of them since the previous day, not even during the meals. Most likely they had stayed in Levi's office to talk without interruption. Eren didn't even want to know what they had discussed about him or his relationship to Annie.

Erwin offered a curt nod as the young scout came towards him while Levi didn't even acknowledge Eren's presence. The captain seemed so bored by what happened in front of him that a stone wall was enough to catch his attention.

"Are you ready?" Erwin asked which Eren confirmed with a nod.

By now his heart was beating significantly faster than was normal and he could only hope that it wasn't written all over his face. Never in his life had he been so nervous about something. But maybe that was because he had never given something so much thought before.

Erwin indicated the staircase to the dungeon by which he stood. "After you."

Swallowing hard, Eren took the lead down the stone steps and towards Annie's cell. By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs his mind was blank. So much for proceeding as planned – he couldn't recall anything from what Armin or Jean had said.

When they arrived in front of Annie's cell door Eren wished he had ignored Mikasa's stern look and skipped breakfast. Even the thought of speaking was troublesome, because he was sure as soon as he'd open his mouth the contents of his stomach would erupt from it. He swallowed and clenched his hands to fists to stop them from shaking as one of today's guards turned the key in the lock.

The door was pulled open and Eren summoned all his determination with a deep breath. He straightened his posture, shouldering the invisible weight of the task he had to fulfil now. Then he firmly walked into the cell.

Everything was set: In the middle of the room stood two chairs facing the bed. Eren noticed another chair propped against the wall out of the left corner of his eye. Annie sat on the mattress currently eating a piece of bread – or maybe just picking it apart, it wasn't entirely clear. The chains dangled from her wrists once again and occasionally rustled with the movements of her hands.

Like usually, she didn't react to the sound of footsteps right away. Only after playing with the piece of bread in her hands a little longer she gave her visitors her attention. Her eyes came up slowly, her pupils stopping right at the brim of her eyelids as she met Eren's gaze. The look they shared was different from any they ever exchanged before.

Eren tried to figure out Annie's expression. Her eyes weren't piercing him with a sharp glare, but something meaningful lay in them – a meaning that was beyond him. He held her gaze with a graveness that he hoped would deliver that he very well understood the importance of what was about to follow.

Finally Annie broke their eye contact and dropped the piece of bread onto the plate resting beside her bent legs before shoving the plate aside. She did so with slow movements, taking her time as if to indicate that the situation held no meaning for her. However, her gaze before had said otherwise.

Eren took the opportunity to chance a look behind him where his superiors stood before the recently shut door. The commander gave him a reassuring nod and walked to the chair by the wall where he sat down. Meanwhile the captain just strode to the right and halted by the wall, assuming his usual posture against the cold stone.

One of the two chairs in the middle of the room was probably set up for him, so he could be right by his subordinate's side and give him support if necessary, but he seemed to have no intention of taking it. Eren could guess why Levi had chosen his spot on the wall: it allowed him to keep an eye on all the important spots in the room, from Erwin's location over Eren's seat to Annie's bed. Like this he could look at all the faces of the three people that were in a cell with him.

So Eren took his spot on one of the two chairs alone. He felt strangely isolated in the middle of the small space with the others scattered around him. But he faced Annie directly and that was the thing that mattered. He would be leading the interrogation, he recalled, she would talk to him. The other two were just bystanders – and he hoped it would stay like that.

While Eren tried to find a comfortable and appropriate sitting position – first leaning against the backrest, then readjusting by leaning forward and ruffling his hair, because his hands were itching to do something – Annie crossed her legs, maintaining her position in the middle of the mattress. Her blue eyes were watching him carefully all the time.

Resting his arms on his knees, Eren finally stopped shifting. The leaning in seemed appropriate for the talk he was about to have with Annie. He had decided to ignore the two other men and just focus on her, initiate a conversation with her and see where it would go. Armin had suggested something like that, hadn't he?

"So," Eren fixed her with his eyes, "tell me everything."

His voice was low and calm. The limbs in his body were tense in anticipation. He ignored Levi's staring eyes though he could clearly feel them trained on him.

"Where do you want me to start?" Annie's whisper matched his tone.

He didn't have to give it much of a thought.

"How about you tell me where you're from first?"

"The very beginning, I see."

She gave a faint smile, apparently pleased with his choice. It was too weak to lighten up her eyes, but there was definitely softness in the blue of her irises. She hid it behind her eyelids as she inhaled deeply, preparing herself for her tale.

"My village lies far beyond Wall Maria in the mountains," Annie began, meeting Eren's gaze again. "It's high up, where the titans can't reach it. My tribe is settled there ever since mankind found refuge inside the walls."

She paused and her eyes trailed off as she seemed to consider how to go on. But Eren could feel the first traces of excitement spark deep in his entrails.

"That tribe of yours," he asked, "are they all titan shifters?"

Annie nodded. "That's right."

Now he had to decide: should he first ask about the origin of the titan shifters and thus maybe get an understanding of who they were, or should he ask for why they had attacked mankind after apparently living peacefully right outside the walls for a hundred years? Eren wasn't really sure he was ready to hear about the latter yet. But he also was aware that he didn't have all day and that was the part he definitely had to cover before his superiors got impatient.

"Why are you here then – after a hundred years not bothering with," he found himself struggling with drawing the line so clearly – he didn't want to separate himself from Annie – yet still he used the word, "_us_, why have you come here now?"

It wasn't directly asking about the attack on the walls, but she would have to give her reasoning. At least if she hadn't changed her mind about telling him everything.

Annie took another moment before replying. This seemed to have become the set pace of the conversation and Eren actually welcomed it. Though the slow progress of uncovering the information left his body tense and on edge, he was otherwise calm. There was no boiling anger setting fire to his entrails that would endanger him of losing his composure and fucking up the interrogation.

"You see," Annie said, "this is where it gets complicated."

"How so?" Eren prompted, feeling the tension rise. He clenched his hands to fists and relaxed them right away to work some of it off.

Annie's eyes shifted again. Her gaze wandered over the walls as if she was trying to pick up the words she could use from there.

"There's some history to it," she stated vaguely, letting her blue orbs find the green of his once more.

"Tell me then," Eren prompted.

Now she closed her eyes, rummaging in the corners of her mind for what to tell him.

"I only know the short version of it," she started, keeping her lids shut. "About humans living in different unions called "countries" and constantly being at war with each other."

Though she couldn't see him, Eren nodded. These stories – though almost forgotten – were also still occasionally told inside the walls and he had heard them a few times.

"Some of them dreamed of overcoming all those disputes and uniting all of mankind."

Annie gave a short, quizzical laugh at the thought and Eren couldn't hold that against her. In his fifteen years of living in this world he had seen his share of human behaviour. Living together in perfect harmony seemed something mankind was incapable of ever achieving.

"A group of people – we only call them The Founders – took it upon themselves to work for that silly dream. They thought that if all of mankind had one enemy those fools would unite through fighting together instead of fighting each other."

That concept, too, Eren had heard before. He had called it naïve himself when Commander Pixis had brought it up back in Trost. But he did not say so now. He didn't want to interrupt Annie's narration.

"They were willing to make great sacrifices for that."

Annie's lips twisted up in a malicious smile. Somehow this part of the story seemed to greatly amuse her. Her eyes flew open again and she fixed Eren with a testing glare. It reminded him of the one she had given him the previous day when calling the scouts mere sacrifices. He prepared himself for what came next.

"They created the titans."

A pause followed in which she studied his reaction, but Eren was ready, expecting the worst.

"After a lot of researching and a long row of tests they managed to turn humans into humongous, mindless beasts with an animalistic instinct that draws them towards humans and makes them want to devour them alive."

Eren clenched his fists to suppress the disgust and anger taking hold of him. The glint in Annie's eyes told him that there was yet worse to come.

"They're out there, humans rotting away in their huge vessels they cannot control. I heard that if enough of your body is left after encountering the fluid in their stomach you turn into a titan as well. Think about it, people you may have known – may have called family or friends – might be out there, walking around as brainless, stupid titans!"

She laughed in delight. It was horrible and disgusting and it brought her delight. Eren clenched his jaw. He understood now for sure that Annie didn't identify or sympathise with humans. She was not like them, she was something different – she was a titan shifter. But that left him to wonder where he was in all this. He considered himself human. He had grown up inside the walls, that was – to his own regret – all he had ever known of the world. Yet technically he was a titan shifter.

"But don't feel bad about killing them." A sneer was still playing with Annie's lips. "They're beyond saving, probably just an empty shell, a lump of meat that over time is fusing more and more with the titan body. Cutting them out would probably be pointless."

The thought of it made Eren sick. He didn't want to dwell on it.

"So, they created titans – what happened then?" he offered to get Annie back on track.

"They set them free of course," she stated. "Have them terrorise humans all over the world and drive them into the walls – or what those that were left of them."

"Wait," Eren intersected, "I thought the titans were mindless. How could they – those Founders have been sure that enough humans would make it to the walls?"

"Our ancestors – the first titan shifters – gained their abilities in the same labs. They were trained in controlling their titan form and coordinated the attacks to some extent, making sure that enough humans made it to the walls."

Eren's head was getting dizzy from all this new information. It was disturbing how Annie told it like she was actually sharing a funny story when in fact she was summing up the history of horrible events that really had happened. But his thoughts got caught up on one thing, helping him to focus.

"The walls – how did they build them? Why is there a huge titan inside of Wall Sina where we caught you in the Stohess District? Are the whole walls filled with titans like that?"

Annie shrugged. "I don't really know. Are there titans inside the wall?"

It was believable that she'd had no idea about that, so Eren didn't push it.

"What happened then?" he asked instead. "The humans barricaded themselves inside the walls and the titan shifters built their village in the mountains and that's it?"

In confirmation Annie gave a nod. But something was still not adding up. Eren narrowed his eyes sceptically.

"What about the scouts?" he questioned. "You called them sacrifices. How do they fit into all this?"

She let her gaze rest on him once more before answering.

"As a friendly reminder that the titans still exist and are to be feared." Her face and voice were serious now. Maybe she didn't want to test Eren more. Or she just had gotten enough fun out of the fact already.

"The descendants of The Founders are probably in the highest positions inside the walls and passed the stories down in their families just like we passed them on in ours," Annie offered. "They don't intend for humanity to ever leave the walls again. And therefore they need to somehow keep the fear within the people to prevent them from wanting to venture outside. So they send out the scouts disguised as an attempt to regain territory for mankind. But every time the scouts return – battered and bruised, their numbers decreased – they serve as a reminder of the horror."

Eren shook his head.

"That's not how it's supposed to be," he mumbled, too shocked to feel anger about these horrible claims.

Again Annie just shrugged.

"That's the way it seems to be working," was all she offered.

Rubbing his eyes, Eren took a moment to refocus. He wasn't even halfway done with processing all this information, but he didn't have that as his priority right now. Possibly it was better this way, or he might lose it right here right now.

"So, what is your purpose now?" he got back to his original question that had brought forth this horrible history.

This time Annie hesitated. The break before her answer was longer than in the conversation so far.

"I'm looking for The Coordinate," she finally stated.

"What coordinate?" Eren was puzzled.

"The serum – or the formula of the serum that can turn humans into titan shifters."

He blinked, confused by her words.

"Why would you need that?"

Annie sighed, closing her eyes in the process.

"My people are endangered. More and more of them can no longer master their titan form. Upon turning they become the same vile, mindless creatures that we so successfully avoided for all those years."

Now the anger broke through the numbing bafflement and surged up in him.

"And that's why you break through the walls, causing the deaths of countless humans?!" Eren shot at her, not caring about keeping his composure.

Her eyes narrowed and sparkled dangerously. He knew that look, now she was mad, too.

"We asked for help," Annie hissed. "The formula was all we asked for, but they refused. I watched my mother lose her mind and devour several people before my father struck her down. My _own_ mother, Eren, killed before my eyes!"

A shiver went down his spine at the emphasis in her voice. He knew that feeling of having to watch your mother being killed. And he didn't wish it on anyone. But still, it didn't justify the breach of Wall Maria and the endless nightmare it had brought upon people.

"A third of humanity!" Eren reminded her.

"Well, I don't care!" she shot back immediately. "I don't care about mankind! When has mankind ever cared about us?! And don't tell me they didn't know, because there are people who know and they refused to help us the one time we approached them! I'm not going to watch anything like this happen to my people again!"

Eren was on his feet without even realising his brain had ordered his limbs to move, but he caught himself just before mindlessly lashing at her. Instead he turned around and let out his feelings on one of the chairs. The wood crashed loudly to the ground from his forceful kick. With clenched fists he stayed with his back to Annie. He only barely registered the shapes of Erwin and Levi in the room.

"And what about me?" he finally pressed between his teeth. "Am I supposed to watch my friends and comrades being eaten?"

Annie offered no reply and as he turned back towards her, she had turned her head sidewards. The bangs of her blond hair shielded most of her face from his view, so he couldn't tell if she actually didn't care, or if she just pretended not to.

He focused on breathing: inhaling, exhaling, inhaling and exhaling – over and over again. When he had calmed down to some degree, he let himself sink onto the still standing chair. As he managed to refocus his mind, another thought came to him.

"Me," he suddenly brought up. "Why did you come for me then?"

Through the strands of blond he could see blue dots flicker in his direction for a moment.

"Because you're a first generation," Annie stated curtly.

"A first generation?" Eren had difficulties to follow up. "What does that mean?"

"A first generation titan shifter," she clarified, facing him again. "You didn't inherit your abilities like my people you received them directly through an injection just as our ancestors a hundred years ago. You're pure."

"Pure?" he echoed, trying to wrap his head around that word and how it connected to him.

"Yes," she followed up. "Your blood contains the full formula that was used for the serum, which means you're the prototype. I'm not saying your abilities are flawless, but neither were the ones of our ancestors who received their titan shifter powers in a lab. The important thing is that you shouldn't have the degeneration that causes my people to lose control and never return to their usual selves again."

Eren nodded while he processed her words.

"Yup," he confirmed aloud what he had suspected right away, "I still don't get it."

Obviously Annie couldn't hold back her annoyance now, because she rolled her eyes.

"Which part don't you get?" she inquired.

"How I can help you with your degeneration problem or however you want to call it."

"We just need your blood, Eren. If we had that, we wouldn't need the formula for the serum to find a cure, we could work with the serum in your blood."

"Wait – you want to experiment on me?" Eren wasn't very fond of the idea.

Annie sighed, apparently losing her patience with him.

"It's just a little blood you wouldn't even miss," she countered. "I'm sure you can afford giving up something of that."

"I don't see why I would do something like that for people who basically hold responsibility for the death of countless humans," he replied bitterly, the thought of his mother's body being snapped in two by gigantic teeth entering his mind.

In the proximate silence Annie simply looked at him. He tried but failed to read her expression. It was devoid of emotions and her eyes didn't give anything away either. She was just watching him while dwelling on some thought.

"Never mind," she finally concluded. "It's not like it mattered now anyway."

Her gaze strayed again and he found himself wondering how she felt about it. Her voice had been clad in that usual boredom, but something else had mixed into it: resignation?

He rubbed his eyes. Completely uncovering the enigma that was Annie Leonhard would have to wait for now. He needed to focus on the interrogation and fish for information that could be useful to the Scouting Legion. He knew there was something he was still missing. What was it again?

Of course, it shot through his mind, as he remembered all of a sudden: one question he definitely had to ask.

He fixed Annie with his eyes, determined to get an answer to this one and if it was the last thing he did in this interrogation.

"The Colossal and the Armoured Titan" – she snapped her head back to face him again – "who are they?" He thought of what Armin had told him the day before. "They were in our training squad, too, weren't they?"

Annie narrowed her eyebrows, giving a long, testing stare. Internally Eren hoped that he wouldn't recognise the names at first, meaning that he hadn't interacted much with whomever the traitors were. Annie was one thing, but another friend having stained their hands with the blood of humans was more than he could handle.

Her eyes still held his caught as she finally spoke again.

"Berthold and Reiner."

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	12. 11: In all Honesty

_**Notes:**__ I'm sorry for the late update. I fell ill last week and found it hard to concentrate, so finishing this part took longer than expected. Add the editing process and me getting distracted and that leads us here.  
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_Also, I added in some more dialogue in chapter 10 to explain the thing with the first generation titan shifter a bit better. Thanks to John (PrimaMalum) for bringing it to my attention._

_**Extended Notes:** No extended notes this time.  
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_**Editing Support:**__ Jesse (Salaeren) - thank you for that!_

_**Fic Suggestions:**__ I finally read "Titanfall" by _Salaeren_ and you should, too - if you haven't already - because it's amazing!  
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**Chapter 11: In all Honesty**

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"No fucking way!"

Eren knocked back the chair in the process of jumping to his feet. Fury rose up and tore at his insides. This was too much! This couldn't be true! Bertholt and Reiner being the Colossal and the Armoured Titan? She must've been mocking him!

But Annie looked at him and he knew that she had been entirely serious.

"Those fucking traitors!"

Rendered mindless by rage he stepped forward, but he didn't get very far before his collar was being yanked backwards, cutting roughlyinto his throat. Eren brought up his hands to pry the fingers from his shirt, but no matter how hard he dug at them, their grip did not losen. Instead he was the one who had to give in, stumbling backwards from the pull. Cursing under his breath and still trying to escape the firm hand on his collar, he found himself forcefully guided out of the cell. His back collided painfully with cold stone as he was thrown with full force against the wall in the hallway. The impact had him gasp for air.

"Calm down."

Levi leaned close, one hand pressed against the wall next to Eren's shoulder, the other on his chest, holding him in place. The young scout was panting in protest, still burning with anger, eyes shifting wildly over the wall that now separated them from Annie.

"Calm. The fuck. down!" the captain repeated.

The emphasis in his voice caught Eren's attention and the young scout finally fixed his erratic eyes on his superior. The focusing helped settling his nerves. He began adjusting his breathing bit by bit, he began _thinking_ again. All the while Levi's eyes pinned him down, taking in every little change in the teen's expression and mood.

"Better?" the man asked as the heaving of Eren's chest was almost back to normal.

The young scout nodded in confirmation, his vision sharpening again. His gaze wandered away from Levi's face, but this time he actually took in what his eyes registered. The two scouts guarding the door stood still with impassive faces. Eyes looking straight ahead, they made an effort not to pay attention to what was happening right in front of them.

Erwin hadn't come out of the cell with the captain and him. Remembering Levi's words from the day before, Eren swallowed hard. What was the commander still doing in there? He couldn't be…? Hadn't they gained enough information? What more could he want to know?

Eren's stomach clenched painfully. He had fucked up, hadn't he? He had totally lost it just now and Annie would be paying the price. Leaning his head back against the wall he stared up at the ceiling. His eyes were suspiciously wet. For all that was dear, he would never be able to forgive himself!

"You did well."

Levi's hands were gone. He apparently had decided that it was safe to let go of Eren and the teen wouldn't rush of to do something stupid again.

Eren clenched his fists and grit his teeth. If the captain gave him some shit like it being unavoidable to harm Annie, he swore, he would fucking punch him! He didn't even care about consequences – he would smash his fist into the captain's face.

Whatever Levi wanted to say – if he had something to add at all – was cut off by the sound of the door handle being pushed down. Eren's head snapped away from the wall and he fixed his eyes on the spot ahead of him to see Commander Erwin emerge from Annie's cell.

He looked calm as always. His stern face implied that he was thinking only of duty. There was no telling what he'd done behind the wooden door until now.

Eren caught Erwin chancing a glance at Levi. The two men exchanged a curt nod and then the commander turned and walked away. The eyes of the young scout silently followed him until he took the turn out of the corridor.

Eren really wished someone would tell him what was happening, because he wasn't sure at all. What silent agreement had his two superiors come to? What about Annie? Was she alright? And what would happen to her now that she had talked?

The captain showed no intention of filling him in, so Eren decided he had to ask.

"What's going to happen now?" he inquired as he turned to Levi whose face had adapted a strangely dark and stern look.

The usually impassive expression of the man was perturbed by narrowed eyebrows that cast dark shadows around his eyes in the dim torchlight. It hinted at the grim thoughts that probably were rummaging behind his forehead now.

When he faced Eren, his features relaxed a little. But the dark aura still weighed heavy on him.

"There'll be an order to capture Reiner and Berthold. Preparations have been made already yesterday."

Eren nodded to show he understood. The mention of his two comrades – former comrades – from the 104th training squad still raked at his insides. Learning about Annie had been one thing. But to know that the figures that symbolised the fall of Wall Maria and the destruction of his home – the horrible death of his mother – were actually Reiner and Berthold felt like the worst treason Eren had ever experienced. This was so more personal than Annie killing Levi's squad and though Eren now knew their motivations and understood the urgency and their need, the way they had gone about it enraged him immensely.

But he swallowed down the anger and pain as best as he could. For the moment he had other priorities.

"What about Annie?"

Levi eyed him carefully, before answering.

"Nothing for now. She gave us information we can work with. We have no business with her for the time being."

"Yes, but is she alright?"

Eren didn't care if this earned him a sarcastic remark from the captain, he just had to know. Baring Levi's piercing eyes was something he could manage by now and was willing to put up with. And he got stared down, but that was fine by him as long as it got him an answer.

"Come on, Eren," the captain said after a bit and started to walk. But Eren wasn't going to budge so easily.

"Not until you give me an answer."

Levi stopped and turned back to him. His narrowed eyebrows made the look in his eyes seem even sharper, more intimidating. He gave a short side-glance to the two scouts guarding Annie's cell who – Eren noted has his eyes briefly followed Levi's – where standing like two statues on either side of the door.

When their eyes met again, Levi had still the same urging look in them. Eren had the feeling that this meant he would be well advised to just come along without protest. But he couldn't figure out why he was supposed to do so. And if he wasn't clear to show now that he stuck to what he'd claimed – that he'd stick up for Annie – then how could he be taken seriously. So he remained stubborn.

"Yes," the captain insisted, "yes, you will."

The meaningful look was lost on Eren.

Levi glanced to the guards again, moving his lower jaw in small, strained circles. His patience seemed to run out, because next thing he did was grabbing Eren by the collar again and making him come along.

"Stupid brat," he hissed, "you like being dragged around today, do you?!"

Eren resisted as best as he could, but the short man sure had some strength in his arm. So all the young scout could do was stumbling along until his superior stopped halfway to the stairs.

"I don't know about her emotional well-being," Levi growled, "but Erwin didn't cut her up, if that's what you were worrying about."

A sigh of relief escaped Eren's lips. His collar had been released and he stood upright again.

"So I didn't fuck up," he mumbled more to himself.

"I told you, you did well," Levi offered.

Eren rolled his eyes.

"That's a matter of perspective, isn't it," he countered.

The older man did not respond to that.

"So now that we've sorted that out," he said instead, "do I still have to drag you or will you come along on your own?"

Eren shrank back a little as he became aware of how inappropriate his behaviour had – once again – been. The captain could kick his ass into the next week for that. But it seemed like the anger of the man had already faded. His face had returned to displaying the usual impassiveness.

"Yes, sorry sir," the young scout mumbled quickly.

The apology was dismissed wordlessly, Levi just turned to continue walking. This time Eren did follow as he was asked to, though he would've preferred to return to Annie. There was just so much he still wanted to talk to her about – not relevant for the interrogation, but relevant for him, relevant for the two of them – whatever they were to each other now.

But he understood that it really wasn't the time to be disobedient or make a fuss to get what he wanted. He had strained the captain's patience more than enough, he could tell. And though he wasn't sure what was coming next, he followed in the older man's steps without asking questions.

Eren found himself in Levi's office. A little unsure of himself he stood between a couch on his right and a shelf on his left and looked around while the captain shut the door. The desk in front of the window was – just like the rest of the room – in a notable neat state. Though there were some papers piled up on it, they looked sorted and orderly stacked.

When he caught Eren's wandering gaze, Levi indicated the couch with a nod.

"Sit," he offered and the young scout stiffly took a seat at the far end of the cushion.

He had a weird feeling. Until now he had never been called to his superior's office. This had to be something serious. He swallowed, but the lump of worry had already nested itself in his throat and probably wouldn't leave so soon.

"We need to talk," Levi stated, looking down on his subordinate.

Something in his stance, the fact that he was standing in the middle of the room at all – because when did he ever do that? – was making him look tense. The crossed arms and the stern look did not help the impression. In combination with these words – which was something the young scout had never heard his superior say before – in such an intense tone there was no doubt about the current situation.

Yes, definitely serious, Eren thought.

"First thing," Levi continued with crossed arms," for your own good – never make such a scene like that again – unless you want the whole Scouting Legion to discuss your personal business, of course, because there are people who would do that with tremendous pleasure and to great extent. Understood?"

Eren thought he did, so he gave a slow nod. Had that been the reason the captain had told him to come along without answering his question about Annie? It would explain the side-glance the man had given to the guards.

Man, it sucks to be bad at picking up subtle hints, Eren contemplated.

"Good."

Now that that matter was settled, Levi seemed to relax to his normal self and slumped onto the couch. Eren had a déjà vu of the scene after his trial – only this time he flinched less as the captain let himself drop into the cushion beside him.

"So," Levi began, "how are you doing?"

"Huh?"

Eren was caught off guard. Was the captain trying to make casual conversation with him or what was happening?

Levi was unimpressed by the teen's thick-wittedness.

"I asked how you were doing," he repeated, "after learning all this information."

"Oh, that…" Eren leaned back, giving it a thought.

"I haven't really had time to fully process everything," he admitted then and the captain only nodded.

The next words were spoken more out of a reflex than the young scout actually thinking about them – because if he'd given them a proper thought he would've decided against expressing them. He wouldn't even have let them close to his lips.

"What about you?"

Immediately Eren wanted to bite off his tongue. What was he thinking, asking his superior something like this? Could he cross any more lines with the man?

Levi took an audible breath.

"Honestly?"

Rhetoric question or not, Eren did not dare to answer. He probably should just keep his mouth shut from now on, because he could mess up even more.

"I'm fucking pissed as hell," Levi growled darkly, causing Eren to look at him in surprise.

The young scout hadn't expected this honesty. On the captains profile Eren could make out the narrowed brows that made the man's small eyes look even gloomier. Levi's gaze seemed to be staring holes into the wall. His jaw worked in small tense movements. His words hadn't been an understatement.

"Do you have any idea how many people I had to watch die," he continued, "how many of my man I could not save?"

Eren was struck by the intensity of Levi's voice. He had no idea how to behave while the man shared his frustration. All he could do was listen to him and watch as the features of his face were strained and the muscles of his throat worked hard.

"I promised myself – promised them – that their deaths weren't meaningless, that they contributed to mankind's victory and that one day we would see the end of this thanks to their sacrifice. But all the time what we did was pointless. We were just marionettes in a bizarre act. There was never hope to break free from the walls. We're stuck here forever."

The bitterness in the Levi's voice resonated in Eren's ears and the meaning of his words was like a punch in his guts. Because the captain was right: if the whole act with the Scouting Legion was just a farce and the fight against the titans pointless, then Eren's dreams, the wish to see the world beyond the walls were just a ridiculous fantasy that would never come true.

"She might've lied," he offered in a weak attempt to console the man and himself.

Levi's head snapped around and his eyes searched Eren's face.

"Do you think she did?" he asked sceptically, his voice low.

"No," Eren admitted truthfully. "I actually think she's shitty at lying."

The captain nodded absentmindedly and turned his head to look away again. Eren eyed his palms that he had pressed into his lap. Annie had given them an ugly truth and Eren felt strangely disorientated, because he didn't know where that left the scouts. But most of all he didn't know where that left him.

"So what now?" he shared the question that concerned him the most. "Are we just going to give up?"

"I'll be damned if we just give up now," Levi growled. "We'll kill all the titans and render the walls useless ‒ that's what we'll do, Eren. Whoever is in on this can go to hell. We'll show them what the Scouting Legion is made of."

Eren just nodded. He couldn't muster the will to fight right now – not if he wasn't even sure anymore what he was fighting for. The question that had come to him during the interrogation was weighing heavily on him now: Where was he in all of this? Did he belong with the humans, or maybe the titan shifters?

"What am I?" he asked out loud. "To you, Captain," he turned to face his superior, "what am I?"

Levi let his gaze rest on Eren, expression unreadable as ever.

"You're human," he finally offered. "To me – you are so very human."

The boy gave a humourless laugh.

"Since I turned out to be a titan shifter I was met with distrust, rejection and open hatred. People called me a monster – _you_ called me a monster."

"I wasn't referring to your shifter abilities, remember?" the captain interjected.

"Still, you didn't trust me at our first meeting and you don't trust me now – and really, I don't blame you. But since we're being honest, Captain, I was never an actual scout to begin with, I'm only a means to an end."

He didn't look at Levi and the man stayed silent as Eren started to count off a long list of things.

"I lost the freedom to decide over myself, my admission to the Scouting Legion was decreed by others. I was expected to aid mankind's victory with my shifter abilities – and I complied with it because I really wanted to give my all for that cause – but I'm not even fully trusted with doing that.

"I was used as a bait to lure out Annie without my knowledge. Your squad asked me to trust in them, but wasn't willing to equally rely on me. Because I'm not just a solider – I wasn't their comrade – I'm an unreliable secret weapon that has to be handed carefully and needs to be controlled so I don't fuck everything up!"

Panting, Eren came to a halt in his speech. He hadn't even been aware these things had been piling up inside of him, but now that he had let it all out he felt like a weight had been taken off his chest.

Carefully he watched his superior, looking out for any reaction the man was showing beyond his impassiveness. He wasn't sure if he had gone too far to speak his mind like this, but it was too late now anyway. Also, if the captain had been honest, then so could Eren. It wasn't as if the man couldn't handle it.

Levi who had been looking at him the whole time briefly shut his eyes and rubbed them. Eren registered the motion that seemed to be a means of getting time to think in the back of his head. It was filed away now with the sarcasm he had noted the previous day. Because since then Eren had started to analyse his superior more thoroughly, especially picking up on the behaviour that differed from the man's usual apathy.

"First," the captain started, "– to get that out of the way – of course my squad wasn't willing to let you fight. They were ordered to protect you and I'm sure you agree with me when I say that you don't throw something you want or have to protect at all costs into harm's way, but do your best to keep it away from it. Comes with the definition of protecting."

Already Eren wanted to object, but Levi didn't let him.

"It's true that how things went down wasn't really fair towards you, I admit that. But this is the Scouting Legion – the Scouting Legion as led by Erwin – and as a member you are expected, without always having full knowledge of the plan, to trust in your superiors and that their decisions are made to benefit the mission and the future of mankind as best as possible.

"Because in the end the Scouting Legion – every single member of it – is just a means to an end, as cruel and cynical as that might sound. You and I may be considered as more important due to our abilities that allow us to be of more help to mankind, but in the end our lives don't weigh more than those of the soldiers who fell in battle already or will in the days to come."

Taking a pause, Levi leaned his head towards the wall, bringing up his hand from the backrest to scratch it. Eren was too caught up in the words he had just heard to take the opportunity and say something. He just watched as the captain looked away in thought before facing him again to continue.

"Your situation downright sucks, I get that. I don't know how it feels to be in your shoes, because I was never even nearly in a comparable position. And you're right, I don't trust you" – Eren braced himself alienated, however what followed surprised him - "but not because you're a titan shifter.

"I don't trust you, because you're still young and you have yet to make all these experiences that will make you grow and become fully reliable. I don't trust you, because you're human with emotions that still render you unable to control yourself and just think before acting way too easily. And yes, I don't trust you, because right now you're playing with fire – a fire that could bring by far larger damage than just burning you."

Eren gulped. He knew exactly where this was going.

"We're talking about Annie now, aren't we," he stated resigned.

A grunt was all he received in reply, but he didn't really need it.

"Do you think she's the enemy?" he asked after a while, question burning too strongly under his nails to hold it back. As he looked over to the captain he could see the man slightly narrowing his brows in thought.

"I think that she's dangerous. She seems to be prepared to achieve her goals by all means and that's what makes her a threat to mankind to reckon with."

The answer was reasonable. Eren was aware that Annie was no friend of humanity in general, like he didn't consider himself a friend of the titan shifter tribe she belonged to. Of course there seemed to be an exception for both of them, but that was just that: an exception.

"Do you consider her human?" he followed up. It was something he had been wondering in the back of his mind and since the captain had explicitly called Eren human despite his shifter abilities, the young scout couldn't help but wonder what the man's take on Annie was.

Levi gave him a mildly curious look – at least that was how Eren interpreted the side-glance of the captain. But the man's gaze was aiming for the windows by the time he answered.

"I hadn't considered it possible by the way she attacked us on our mission. But yes," he faced the young scout again, "I think she's human – and you seem to bring out the most human part of her."

Feeling uncomfortable under his superior's gaze, Eren blinked and eventually looked away. His throat needed clearing before he could respond.

"I don't know what to say to that," he mumbled, feeling the need to say something despite it turning out to be something stupid like this.

"I didn't expect you to," the captain offered bluntly as ever.

They fell silent at this for a while.

"Eren" – the boy turned his head to meet the man's gaze, showing that he was listening – "whatever is going on between the two of you – I shouldn't tolerate it."

Eren's eyes displayed surprise at the captain's choice in wording, brows narrowing questioningly.

"I also shouldn't tolerate you going back down there and sort out your personal issues with her."

It took a moment for Eren to get what Levi was saying. He held the man's intense gaze while processing the words. Then it finally clicked.

"I understand." The young scout took it as his cue to leave. As he got up he added: "Thank you, sir."

Levi gave a dismissive wave with his hand.

Just as the young scout put his fingers on the doorknob the captain spoke once more.

"Are you leaving us, Eren?"

Eren paused, looking back at Levi whose gaze was aimed at the opposite wall.

"I'm not, sir," he replied with what he thought back then was the truth.

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	13. 12: What Was Left Unsaid

_**Announcement:**__ I started a little side-project to this story called _**A Sight Beyond**_. It's going to be a collection of one-shots that tie in with this story, allowing me to explore some characters and events while focusing on Annie and Eren in the main story here. So I totally recommend you check it, you can find it among my stories on my profile page of course. (The first one-shot is called _Attack on Wall Maria_ - guess what that is about. *wink* )_

_**Notes:**__ Excuse the late update. Life happened and basically this chapter became a hassle to write. But I have been informed that it was good, so I dare say it is worth the wait. (4400+ words oozing with my sweat and tears from writing, rearranging, rewriting and editing, which makes it the longest chapter of this story so far that also cost me the most effort.)  
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_I'm hoping to get back to the regular update schedule for the story aka one update per weekend. I can't promise anything but I'll try._

_**Extended Notes:**__ Fucking chapter 12! (No extended notes. I've worked way too much on this chapter, I need a break from thinking about it.)_

_**Editing Support:**__ Sam (Euregatto) - thanks my homegirl!_

_**Preview:** Next chapter will have some more Eren and Annie, because this chapter wasn't enough to have them talk about all the important stuff._

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**Chapter 12: What Was Left Unsaid**

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She did not flinch, she did not avert her gaze – though her instincts were to just do that. But Annie was good at hiding her feelings, at keeping her composure. She had stared terror in the face and not even batted an eye. Eren's second outburst in the course of her interrogation was nothing compared to that – so she told herself.

But all the while – as he stepped towards her, as he was being dragged backwards and out of her cell by the captain – she found herself wondering if she'd expected too much of Eren. Though she didn't like to admit it, his reaction to her revealing that Reiner and Berthold were titan shifters as well – the very titan shifters that had destroyed the gates of the walls – shook her. She had expected Eren to be hurt and feel betrayed – she knew how much he had looked up to Reiner especially – but his outrage surprised her.

How stupid of her, she thought, of course he would be angry. After all she knew about him that was the obvious reaction to reckon with. Had she seriously deluded herself into thinking that Eren would keep his cool and take it like it was no big deal? Just because he hadn't been raging when facing her in Stohess – how ridiculous she had made and assumption based on that.

Commander Erwin was still sitting in the room, his calm, unreadable gaze resting on Annie. She stared back equally motionless. That prick had set up a trap for her and she had fallen for it and now he was just sitting there calmly and in control like nothing could ever make him lose his cool. It pissed her off!

Yesterday had been the first time she'd seen him more closely. He had come by to inform her that Eren would be put in charge of her interrogation as she'd requested and that he, the commander, would sit in as well as the captain, if she didn't mind. The way he had phrased his words – so thoughtful and seemingly considerate – made her want to claw his eyes out or – even better – rip off his tongue.

Of course she did not object – it was not like she honestly had a choice. Though she wouldn't admit it, she wasn't keen on experiencing the sensation of metal cutting through her skin, tearing through her flesh and muscles and scraping on her bone ever again. And she could tell that the sharp, calculating mind of Erwin Smith could think of even more ways to make her suffer until she bent to his will.

At least like this she had been able talk to Eren, tell him her story herself before he heard bits and pieces from others and answer the questions _he_ wanted to know. That was all that mattered, she had reminded herself.

Finally the commander rose from his seat. Every movement of his was deliberate and Annie came to the conclusion that she despised him more than she despised the captain. Damn these high ranking military officers and their composure! She would've liked to drive her nails into his eyeballs just to see how calm he would be then.

"Thank you for your cooperation," he spoke with the same formality as the day before.

Annie couldn't help but picture herself lying on the floor – sore and wounded, aching from every word they had forced from her lips – and the commander standing above her, saying these very same words in the very same tone. The image brought a shiver creeping up her spine that she did her best to suppress.

"I didn't do it for you," she replied, managing to make her voice sound bored as it was characteristic for her. Her words however were a weak counter. He didn't deem them worthy of a reply, but left her in silence.

A wave of mixed emotions rippled through Annie as she let herself sink backwards against the wall. She could make out relief that the questioning was over, remorse at having sold out Reiner and Berthold, worry about how Eren would behave towards her now, and sadness and anger at the stirred memories of her mother and the uncertain fate of her tribe.

In her short life she'd learnt that honesty was something that came with a price – a high price more often than not. Despite this she'd decided to be honest with Eren. She hadn't been sure how he would react to her story. That's why she had stopped the words that had been about to form on his lips the previous day. She didn't want him to say something so important and then having to regret it later. If he said it she didn't want him to have to take it back. She wouldn't be able to stand that.

Annie sunk into the pillow of her bed. The plate with the leftovers of her breakfast had been carelessly placed on the floor. She hadn't been hungry in the first place, so she saw no point in eating up.

In her mind she kept replaying her conversation with Eren, trying to filter out his reactions to every word she had said. She paid no attention to the scouts that came in after a while, removing the three chairs together with her remaining breakfast. All that mattered was whether Eren would ever show up again or whether he would stay away from her for good this time. She found herself hoping for the former.

When Eren did arrive it felt like he had taken his sweet time, though it couldn't have been too long. He seemed to have steadied himself after his outburst Annie noticed when she sat up on her bed to get a better look at him. It was a relief to see him calmed down again, to see him return to her. Annie hadn't even been aware that something had weighed on her chest, but suddenly breathing felt so much easier.

He hesitated slightly after closing the door behind himself and she fought back the urge to jump up and haul herself at his chest, feeling him, holding him, inhaling his scent – because she wasn't one to display emotions so openly, because she knew he probably was still processing everything he'd learned today and needed space to do so, because her shackles barely allowed her to stand up from the bed.

She remained still for a moment, waiting for him to take the initiative. Eren however said nothing, so Annie decided to be the one to break the silence.

"Hey," she greeted him softly, because she didn't know what else to say.

His reply was an equally silent "hey", nothing more. He wasn't even meeting her gaze.

She felt the tension take hold of her again. It was like everything she had said during the interrogation today had built up between them and she didn't know how to work her way through the pile of unpleasant truths, how to get through to him. He, too, seemed to make no attempt to move aside some of the mess. He just stood there, at the other end of the room, so far away.

It made her go insane, this distance. She just wanted to feel him again, for him to soothingly whisper into her ear and tell her that it was alright. Because it would mean that he accepted her, it would mean that he would stay with her. But she tried to shove those wishes aside.

"You came back," she whispered. It was noting the obvious, she knew that, but it meant a lot to her – more than she could express.

"Of course," he muttered like there wasn't a single doubt about it. Yet still he didn't look at her, didn't face her. His gaze wandered around – over the floor tiles and the walls – actively avoiding her.

"That's not a given," she remarked, hinting at all the doubts that had tormented her mind until his return to her cell. And even now that Eren was here, she wasn't sure what it meant.

"It is!" he objected, finally meeting her eyes. That and the intensity in his tone made her involuntarily hold her breath.

"I'm in on this," he assured her with resolution in his voice, "whatever this is. I'm not going to back out, because I'm not a coward, because I don't want to."

"Then what the fuck are you still doing over there?" Annie spoke exactly what was on her mind and almost regretted it immediately. So much for giving Eren space to process the load of information she had dumped on him earlier.

The expression on his face was a mixture of shock and surprise. Her remark had done well to freeze him in place – at least for a moment. Then he shook his head in disbelief and gave a short laugh.

"Fucking hell, Annie," he grumbled and she wasn't sure if he was amazed or put off by her.

"I mean it," she insisted. There was no backing out now. You didn't do things half-heartedly, not when it concerned someone like Eren Jaeger.

The look in his eyes was unreadable. She could make out the hint of a thought passing through his green orbs, but she couldn't even begin to guess what was on his mind right now. Anticipation climbed up inside of her and she could barely stand not knowing what he'd do next.

"Annie, I…," he began softly, but broke off. His lips remained parted as if he was ready to continue, but no further words passed over them.

"What?" she inquired. Unease tugged at her stomach, preparing to crawl into it and twisting it into a nest where that uncomfortable feeling could get comfortable. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to know what was on Eren's mind right now, but she also couldn't leave it unsaid.

"I'm not like you, Annie," he spoke, studying her face. "I can't follow down the road you're going."

Strangely enough, Annie couldn't stop the corners of her mouth twitching slightly upwards.

"In case you hadn't noticed," she informed him, "I'm tied up, so I'm not going anywhere."

He briefly closed his eyes and gave a humourless smile.

"You know what I mean."

She sighed, just like him taking her time to keep her lids shut a little longer than just simply blinking. It seemed she needed to clear up something. She shifted a little on the mattress to become more comfortable though there wasn't really a point to it. It was more a means of gaining some time to find the words she needed now while she knew Eren's gaze was hefted onto her.

"I didn't tell you all this, to convince you or to draw you on my side or anything," she declared, eyes scanning the wall next to him. "I told you because I wanted you to know me like you let me know you."

Because I want you to, because I _need_ you to, she added in her mind, but the words didn't even find their way to her lips. These confessions were still new to her and she had a hard time being so honest. It meant letting down your guard and opening up, becoming vulnerable.

Unsure of his reaction to her words Annie glanced back at him. Eren's eyes had grown wide and his mouth gaped open, moving silently with the words he couldn't utter. She didn't know if that was a good thing or if she should be worried.

Her body tensed. She was on the brink of regret and would definitely fall in if he drew away from her now. This was the biggest risk she'd taken in a long time – if not in her whole life – and a big part of her was expecting it to blow up in her face. Life had taught her to always expect the worst.

She wanted to avert her gaze again, in this case she'd rather not see it coming – it would hurt enough as it was. But she forced herself to keep her eyes fixed on him, because this was important. This was the commitment she was making, this was how far she was willing to put herself out there for Eren – Eren, who stood still motionless at the other end of the room – and if he didn't pick up on it that was the last time she'd ever do that.

He regained control of his features again and Annie could barely stand the tension anymore. If only he would say something, do something that could give her a hint on what he was thinking. But instead his eyes had become unreadable again and it confused her and it scared her, because those green orbs had always been so honest with her. Today was the first time she was completely unable to tell what was happening behind them.

When Eren finally moved it was a relief, no matter the outcome. Looking determined he closed the distance between them, knelt on the bed before Annie and took her head in his hands. The fierceness with which he captured her lips was overwhelming.

He shoved her backwards onto the bed and climbed over her, not giving their mouths a single moment of rest. She gave herself up to his demanding kiss, parting her lips to allow entrance to his fiery tongue. Her hands tugged at his shirt and flattened against his back, keeping the heat of his body close. She felt his fingers wander, from her neck down to her sides and up again.

She didn't want him to break away, but he eventually did, leaving her longing for air and more of his taste. His hot breath brushed over her face as he studied her features.

"I'm a mess right now," he informed her, voice low and racked with heavy breathing.

Her reply came equally hitched. "What makes you think I'm any different?"

The corners of his mouth twisted upward in a short, pained smile before he buried his head in her shoulder. She could feel his full body weighing down on her as he sunk onto her in resignation. He inhaled deeply, the air being sucked in by his nose tickling her skin as he took in her scent.

So this time Eren was the one who needed consoling, it dawned on Annie and she let her arms embrace him, her hands stroking gently over his back and his hair. It disquieted her that his passion had ebbed off as quickly as it had arisen. She yearned for it, that blunt desire he had shown for her. It was a language she could speak – her body instinctively reacting to him, mirroring and matching him as if it was designed to do so, as if there was no doubt they were made for each other.

Showing feelings was something entirely different. She had turned her body into a fortress a long time ago, burying her emotions deep down inside of her for no one to see. Unwrapping these layers, digging deep and letting it pour out, was something she was struggling to do. Actually she wasn't willing to do it, because it meant becoming openly vulnerable – as if you were marking all your weak points for everyone to get a good aim at them.

If you had trouble accepting your own feelings, how even did you start dealing with other people's emotions? How did that thing called "compassion" work? Annie could distinguish the feeling – she knew she experienced it now – but she wasn't sure how to show it. Eren had been there for her the day before when her walls had crumbled and the tears had leaked out and she wanted to do the same for him. Still, Eren without anger, without passion, without that fire driving him onwards, but drained and limb – it left her feeling strangely powerless and not knowing what to do.

His body pressed into her, weighed her down, suffocated her. As gently as possible she started pushing against him, rolling both of them sideways. Her shackles rattled with every motion. She rested her head on his while he still had his face buried in her shoulder.

"Eren?" she tried carefully, hand still caressing his back and fingers stroking through his hair. His immediate response was a sigh.

"I'm sorry," he then mumbled against her collar bone. "I'm just so…_confused_ right now."

Annie couldn't quite tell why he was apologising. Maybe his disorientation was rubbing off on her or maybe the situation they were stuck in was downright confusing, so no wonder they both had difficulties coping.

"I'm not even sure I know who I _am_ anymore."

The desperate tone in Eren's voice pinched her right in the chest and she held on to him, her hands never stopping in their soothing motions. She pressed her lips to his temple to give him some kind of comfort while words didn't come easy. Then she started trailing kisses down his cheek, pulling back a little so she could access his mouth. He responded to her, hanging on to her lips with his like their touch was as essential to him as oxygen.

Annie broke away from him to rest her forehead against his, using her hand to steady his head as he tried to re-engage her in a kiss.

"Eren," she tried gaining his attention. He did not respond, not meeting her gaze as he still was just attempting to capture her mouth with his.

"Eren," she repeated more intently, "look at me!"

His half-closed eyelids fluttered open, green orbs finally meeting her. His body became still as he focused on her eyes and only them.

"You're Eren Jaeger," she told him, hand stroking over the side of his face. "You're the boy who fights to win and rather dies trying than doing nothing at all. You're the boy who wants to see the world beyond the walls."

Her fingers played with brown strands and traced down his neck. She wanted to say more, to tell him how much he meant to her, but she didn't know how. How could she express that feeling in her chest that took hold of her when he was with her or just when she thought of him? Annie was pretty sure she'd never learned the words that were fitting to describe it.

Eren squeezed his eyes shut, face contorted in a mixture of emotions. She could filter out pain but also relief at her words. This time she let their lips meet as he leaned in again and he clutched onto her in desperation. Maybe her words hadn't been enough. Maybe her lips were giving more comfort when touching him than when uttering words. It wouldn't surprise her.

His mouth trailed off and he buried his face in the crook of her neck again. The chain tied to her right wrist was draped over her side while she had her arm wrapped around his neck, but she didn't mind its weight.

"Okay?" she asked him, because she couldn't quite pin-point his mood.

"Yeah," he sighed and nodded. "Thanks."

Silence spread out, only budging a little for the sound of their breathing. Being tangled up with Eren was comforting and soothing. Annie closed her eyes to focus on feeling him nestled against her and hear him inhale and exhale in a soft rhythm that matched hers.

"How much have you seen of it?" Eren eventually broke through the quiet occupying the room. His voice was muffled from speaking against her collar. "The outside world, I mean."

She took a moment to think about it, wrapped up in the warmth of his body. She remembered hunting trips with her father in the mountains and learning to use her titan form on various grounds – it felt like such a long time ago. They never had strayed too far from the secure confines of their village. The titans had a tendency to ignore shifters until their attention was drawn to them, but still the people from her tribe had always tried to avoid even the chance of conflict.

"Bits of it, I guess," she then vaguely replied.

"What about the ocean?"

"No, I've only heard about that," she offered, wondering why he took such big interest in these things all of a sudden. The ocean had been mentioned in the beginning of the origin story of her tribe that had been told to her as a kid more than once. But she had never thought much of it. In fact she'd had other things to worry about. "It's supposed to be really big, if I remember correctly."

She felt Eren shift in her arms, resting his head more comfortably on her cheek. He still held her close, fingers gracing the back of her shirt.

"One day I'm going to go there," he told her with soft voice right next to her ear. "I'm going to travel this whole wide world and then I'm going to be free."

"Free," Annie echoed, a hint of sadness sneaking into her voice – it was something she only could dream of but never hope to obtain. In her whole life she'd never really been free to act on her own will. There had always been rules, responsibilities – her mission. "That sounds good."

"Yeah. No more people telling me what I should do, or can't do, or who I should be. Because when this is all over, when the titans are gone and the walls are rendered useless there's nothing that holds me here."

Suddenly he pulled back, resting his head on the pillow. As their eyes locked she could make out the excitement sparkling in his green irises. Her heart actually skipped a beat seeing him lighten up like this. With his hand he combed through her bangs and stoked her cheek.

"I'm going to take you with me, Annie," he proclaimed.

At this Annie laughed softly. His mood swing delighted her as much as it amused her, because he was spouting absolute nonsense.

"You shouldn't make promises so lightly," she reminded him, holding up an arm beside her face to present the shackle that was encasing her wrist.

Eren narrowed his brows, his eyes losing their glint a little, but his gaze becoming even more intense.

"I mean it," he insisted, sounding a little offended.

"I didn't suggest you didn't mean it," Annie offered. She had easily found her composure again and fixed him with her glaring eyes. "You're a real fool sometimes, but an upright one."

"Oi," he growled, apparently a little insulted by her words, but not really up for arguing against her.

She rolled her eyes, because he still hadn't picked up on the hint that was dangling almost right in front of his eyes. Sometimes he really had difficulties with getting the obvious, but she would be lying if she'd say she didn't think it was endearing in a way – not that she would ever admit to that.

"I'm a prisoner," she pointed out, shaking her wrist slightly and making the chain rattle to jog his memory. "I'm not exactly free to go..."

Eren glanced over at her ties. He took hold of her arm, letting his gaze rest on the metal binding her and tracing his thumb around it.

"We'll work that out when the time comes," he mumbled.

Annie felt conflicted. There were a million reasons why that would never end well – simply kissing Eren in her cell was chasing a dream that had no future – and yet here she was doing it anyway. The fact that he was saving a place for her in his future gave her another one of those delightful pinches to her chest that only he could cause. Annie felt stupid for it – and confused.

"Why would you even want me to come with you?" It was a thought she spoke as soon as it popped into her head.

Once again she found herself wondering about Eren Jaeger and that irrational mind of his. She couldn't quite keep up with him. She was thankful and glad that he cared for her and yet it didn't make sense to her.

He looked at her incredulously. It took him a moment to decide on how to phrase his answer.

"Because I want to stay with you, of course!"

"That's pretty ridiculous," she commented.

His eyebrows narrowed.

"Don't you tell me that's ridiculous after kissing me like that," he growled. "Don't you tell me you feel nothing for me after opening up to me like that. "

She wanted to object, but realised that he had a point, so she stayed quiet.

"I care for you, Annie," Eren continued, voice softer now, "I really do. I love being with you and I want you to be okay. And when you're not okay I want to be there for you and make you feel better somehow though I really suck at that stuff. I want to share with you what's important to me and I want you to be able to do the same. And- damn, I just want you to be there with me."

Annie watched as he closed his eyes with the last sentence.

"So being the idiot you are you really fell in love with me," she noted quietly. It didn't resonate in her voice, but she was actually astonished. She had guessed it and still it was different to hear him say these things now.

He looked at her again and she could see his throat work as he swallowed.

"Yes," he whispered.

"You know that was a big mistake, right?"

"I refuse to believe that."

"Yes, because you're an idiot."

A smile threatened to form on her lips and Annie pressed them onto his mouth. It was to hide the hint of emotion on her face. But mostly it was her way to express what she wasn't able to put into words yet.

She felt the warmth spreading from her chest and she held on to him tightly. As she melted against him she didn't know if it actually translated into the slow dance of their lips, but she hoped that he could somehow tell.

The things Eren had described – she really wanted them, too.

.

.

.


End file.
